Searching for Universal Gestures

If there are universal emotions and expressions, does that mean there are universal gestures? This is exactly what Humintell’s Dr. David Matsumoto and Dr. Hyisung C. Hwang sought to answer in a 2012 study which sought to conduct a groundbreaking and comprehensive analysis on international differences in gestures. In order to answer this, they compiled…

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How Do Universal Basic Emotions Relate to Microexpressions?

As a follower of this blog, you are probably pretty aware of universal emotions, but how do these relate to microexpressions? Some psychologists see microexpressions as undermining the case for basic emotions, but 2014 research conducted by Humintell’s Dr. David Matsumoto and Dr. Hyisung C. Hwang works to refute this misconception. By generating images showcasing…

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Basic Emotions and Cultural Differences

Despite the universal nature of many basic emotions and types of emotions, it is pretty clear that cultural differences exist, but why? It certainly would be simplistic to think that all emotional expressions are the exact same around the world, despite the existence of basic emotional expressions across cultures. In fact, a major 2015 study…

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Why Try to Read Others?

At Humintell, we certainly talk a lot about reading other people’s emotions, but why is this such a big deal? One obvious answer is that it is just really fascinating psychology, but there are also relevant and practical reasons to improve your ability to read microexpressions and other nonverbal cues. Not only are they particularly…

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