Nonverbal Cues in the 21st Century

The more impersonal communication gets, the more we remember the need for personal contact. While technology has many great features, it can often distill communication down to text messages, emails, or instant messages. These really can help manage spread out workforces or enable people to work from home, but they also prevent us from reading…

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The Contagious Smile

Many of us often feel that smiling can be irresistibly contagious, but is this actually true? In fact, a recent study published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences adds to a growing body of evidence that indicates that other people’s expressions really can have a tangible impact on our mood. The study authors, Dr. Paula Niedenthal…

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The Voice of a Cheater

How effective are verbal cues in exposing our emotions and character? Throughout this blog, we have dwelled extensively on deception detection but have also focused almost exclusively on nonverbal cues. However, a new study in the journal of Evolutionary Psychology, subtle verbal cues can reveal a wealth of detail about a stranger, even including past…

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Income and Emotional Recognition

Would it surprise you that wealthier people are actually worse at reading emotions? A growing body of research is beginning to show that the less well off a person is the more they have learned to read other people’s emotional expressions. While it might seem counterintuitive, this skill connected with the increased practical necessity of…

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