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Will Smith Shows Basic Emotions

You may or may not have heard of actor Will Smith backhanding a reporter this past weekend at the Men in Black 3 premier in Moscow, Russia.

Smith was clearly caught off guard when a Ukranian reporter tried to kiss him while wrapping his arm around his neck. He shoved the reporter off of him and gave him a backhand slap on the check.

Take a look the video below and try to decipher Smith’s emotions. What is interesting is also the reaction of the other people around him, including the woman with the leopard printed scarf around her neck and the blond woman behind him.

Remember that emotions are immediate, automatic, unconscious reactions to events that are important to one’s welfare. They are transient and fleeting.

What emotions do you see here?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Don’t Cry (at the Office): A How to Guide

Many people have had very emotional reactions to situations that have taken place at work.  Some of those might be good, some bad, but no one want to have the infamous “mental breakdown” or “emotional snap” that can destroy you (if even just temporarily) as well as your professional & personal relationships.

The Wall Street Journal reports that there is a stigma attached to emotional responses in the workplace.  Experts have long claimed that emotional suppression is not healthy for the well-being of the individual as well as their work performance.

So what should you do? 

Be attuned to what your emotional triggers are, so your responses—even in more extreme cases—can be predictably managed.

People tend to mimic the strong emotions around them, according to Sigal Barsade, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, so don’t vent at work; if necessary, go home.

Revisiting Genuine vs Fake Emotions

A week ago we asked readers to look at the two videos and weigh in with their thoughts as to who was telling the truth, who was lying and why.

Many people shared meaningful thoughts and opinions and almost everyone agreed that the first video of a woman pleading for her daughter’s return seem to be fabricated, while the second video seemed much more genuine.

In fact, the first video was of a Canadian women named Penny Boudreau who later admitted to strangling her own daughter and was sentenced to life in prison. Her daughter, who was only 12 years old, was a victim at her own mother’s hands. The video you saw below was taken before Penny had admitted to the murder.

What is particularly interesting is that throughout the interview, you see an expression more resembling fear than of sadness. Penny’s brows are not pulled up and together, but are raised creating horizontal lines across the forehead:

Compare Boudreau’s expression of emotion to that of the father of a missing boy in the video below. You can see genuine sadness throughout the press conference, as his brows are up and together:

In addition, in the Boudreau video, you see her fidgeting a lot and her eyes darting back and forth. She often puts her hands on her face and rubs her face, while the man in the second video doesn’t do that at all. Remember, that fidgeting and eye gaze on it’s own cannot be a reliable sign of lying unless compared to a baseline.

Perhaps Boudreau acts like this normally, but she seemed very tense and obviously fearful of something, perhaps of getting caught. Our hearts go out to the father in the second video. His emotions are raw, almost uncontrollable at times and palpable. You truly feel his pain when watching his speak about his missing son.

Missed watching the original videos? Take a look at the original post here