Clues From Andrew Kissel's Face

I've just finished watching American Greed on CNBC. This episode was on brothers Rob and Andrew Kissel. Rob was an investment banker murdered by his wife Nancy in 2003. Andrew was a real estate mogul who bilked millions of dollars from investors, family members, banks, and other lending institutions. Andrew was also murdered three years after brother Robert's death.

Of the two faces, it is Andrew's that is most interesting. Andrew Kissel's face provides us with a fabulous example of the look of contempt and disdain we've been talking about in recent posts. Check it out.

Notice the raised eyebrow and how tightly he holds his lips. I found 8 to 10 different photos of Kissel (in addition to this one from from a story in the NY Daily News) and every single one showed the same expression. Even when he smiles, he cannot help but show us this look.

I was curious to see if brother Rob or other family members shared the look. We are often asked if facial features such as these are genetic. In the American Greed episode we get to see the Kissel sister who does not have any of the qualities we mention associated with Andrew. Brother Rob doesn't appear to have them either, at least they are not nearly as pronounced as Andrew's.

The Look of Contempt - From Ekman and Darwin

Several researchers throughout the years have attempted to nail down the look of contempt, the most notable being Paul Ekman. Ekman's findings suggest there is in fact a universal look of contempt spanning all cultures. Ekman's look of contempt involves a tightening and slight raising of the lip corner, primarily on one side of the face. Ekman is one of the few researchers I've dealt with (actually the only one I can recall) that charges you for use of photos - $175 to be exact. Which explains why you don't have an Ekman photo here.

Although Ekman is credited with identifying the look of contempt in the face, it was actually Darwin who first recognized the facial expression for this emotion. Darwin was even more detailed in his description. He notes that the nose may be slightly turned up, which apparently follows from the turning up of the upper lip; or the movement may be abbreviated into a mere wrinkling of the nose. (from Izard and Haynes)

References

Ekman, Paul. Emotions Revealed, Second Edition: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life

Izard, C.E. & Haynes, O.M. (1988). On the Form and Universality of the Contempt Expression: A Challenge to Ekman and Friesen’s Claim of Discovery. Motivation and Emotion, 12.1, 1-16.

Can you spot a con? What Madoff's face is saying

What can you tell from a person's face and body language that might help you recognize a shyster? Is it true that we all "leak" clues about ourselves? I believe that there is much to read from a person's face and body as well as from how they speak. And that's exactly what this blog is all about.

Each of us does in fact "leak" a great deal about who we really are. We leak this information in a variety of ways and in a variety of areas. Our facial lines, language constructs, body movements and home and office accoutrements all send out clues about us.

Let's start with Bernie, and in particular Bernie's face. Anything pop out at you when you first look at this face? How about the raised brow? Notice how his left brow goes up further than the right brow. We call this a judging brow.

You can identify the kind of person who makes this face with some regularity by the lines on their forehead. The lines on the side above the raised brow will be higher, deeper and more rounded than those on the other side.

So what kind of person has these sort of facial lines? The judging brow comes from a person who is usually a command and control personality (a Driver). They are good at judging and finding fault in others. They perceive themselves as "better than" and are extremely internal, meaning they get their sense of what is good or bad from within themselves and don't care about what anyone else thinks.

Starting to get the idea?

The second clue from Bernie is his mouth. His lips are clamped shut. It's as though he is hiding behind or prohibiting the truth from passing. His lips serve as a psychological gate keeper.

The combination of the lips and brow work together to create a look of smugness or contempt. It is a look we can learn to recognize. On the right here is another of my favorite examples of this brow and lip combination. Stay tuned for more examples.