Revealing Your True Emotions

If they know what to look for, people can read what you’re really feeling thanks to involuntary microexpressions we make subconsciously. They’re brief, lasting only a fraction of a second, but these small facial movements reveal your true emotions.
Microexpression co-discoverer Paul Ekman, who Fox TV based its “Lie to Me” series on, says microexpressions last between 1/15 and 1/24 of a second, and are the result of someone trying to hide their emotions, whether it’s a feeling or a reaction that is being suppressed .
Even if a person is trying to hide their real feelings from themselves or others, for a split second, their face will tell you the truth. These brief expressions can tell you if someone is angry, sad, scared, disgusted, surprised, happy or full of contempt . The looks are universal, so everyone does them. The good news is that people who take the time to study these expressions can figure out what people are actually feeling at any given minute.
It’s not a perfect science though: psychologists know what microexpressions are, but they don’t actually know the cause behind the effect. Just because someone shows microfear when another person accuses them of taking the last cookie, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re scared of getting in trouble. It could also mean they’re lying and hoping not to get caught, or that they’re afraid they won’t be believed when they plead innocence.
It’s fair to say, however, that you’re definitely not as clever at hiding your emotions as you think you are. (Reading text adapted from Business Insider)