Page 87 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

128 Deception at Work

WHAT A LOVELY BABY: THE DUCHENNE SMILE IN
REVERSE

All politicians love babies for three reasons. contrived smile. This is known in the trade as
The first is that babies don’t ask difficult a ‘reverse Duchenne smile’ (see pages [xref]).
questions. The second is they are camera You know from the timing, lack of wrinkling
ready and bring reflected glory. The third is around the eyes, the absence of dilation in
that they show the politician has safe hands. the pupils and the uneven quick fade of the
facial expression that the only thing the tub-
But next time you see a politician holding thumper likes about babies is playing a part
a baby look carefully and what you will see in their conception after an all-expenses-paid
is him saying ‘Coochy coo. What a beautiful dinner at Langans (table 1).
little baby you are’ and then put on a patently

When emotion is genuine, the non-verbal clues are driven directly from the limbic system
(see page [xref]) and appear before any oral expression. When false, they appear in reverse order
and are usually transient. If you don’t believe this, look closely at politicians on television: they
usually get it wrong and smile milliseconds after they say how nice the baby looks.

Watch for incongruencies between micro expressions and those which are consciously contrived

Overall the body language of truthful subjects is more dynamic and relaxed with consist-
ent use of demonstrators.

Believe in body language

Non-verbal clues to deception are summarized in Table 4.9 and Mind Map 8.

Table 4.9 Non-verbal clues

Body element Symptoms of deceit Significance

EMBLEMS (may also be unconscious)

SURROUNDINGS These are visual signals reflecting how the person sees 10
DRESS himself and how he would like to be perceived by others.
ASSOCIATES For example, police uniforms, barristers’ wigs, punk
VEHICLES hairstyles. Clothes, hair and especially shoes and spectacles
PREMISES inconsistent with the person’s true standing or position
Transactional role and displayed with the intention of enhancing his ability
Incongruence to succeed with an attack or to deceive the interviewer