Module 38 Introduction

Expressing Emotion

“Your face, my thane, is a book where men may read strange matters.”

Lady Macbeth to her husband, in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth

EXPRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IMPLIES EMOTION. DOLPHINS, with smiles seemingly plastered on their faces, appear happy. To decipher people’s emotions we read their bodies, listen to their voice tones, and study their faces. Does nonverbal language vary with culture—or is it universal? And do our expressions influence our experienced emotions?