The lop-sided smile ..............................................................................
When your muscles pull the sides of your mouth in opposite directions, one
side going up and the other going downwards, you’ve got yourself in a twist.
What you’re doing is showing opposite emotions on either side of your face
and the observer has to figure out what this lop-sided smile is conveying – in
Western culture this type of smile can signal sarcasm, embarrassment, and
irony.In a lop-sided smile, one side of your mouth is moving upward in amusement
while the other side’s pulling down in restraint. Subconsciously, when your
mouth seeks this position you’re showing both your pleasure and your pain.
Harrison Ford and the late Princess of Wales both mastered the gesture of the
lop-sided smile.The gesture elicits protective responses in others. The side of the mouth
going downward indicates sadness, anxiety, or another negative emotion. The
side going upward shows that the person’s not angry – had he been, both
sides of the mouth would turn down. The gesture is softened by the upward
turn of the lip, making the gesture non-threatening.Figure 6-3:
Smiling with
tight lips
means that
you aren’t
going to be
sharing your
deepest
thoughts.
Chapter 6: Lip Reading 99