Silent Political Power?

Many commentators are keen to read into the nonverbal behavior of political leaders, but is that even really possible? After Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Helsinki last week, it’s safe to say that they completely dominated the news cycle. In a presumable effort for a fresh take, the Washington Post interviewed nonverbal…

Read More

Failure at the World Cup

All triumphant athletes look alike, but do all distraught and disappointed ones? In past blogs, we have noted frequent observations of the universal “triumphant” pose amongst victors in sports competitions, but sports reveal other universal poses as well. For instance, as David Gendelman writes for The New York Times, this summer’s World Cup helps showcase…

Read More

Political Facts or Deceptive Opinions?

It’s no surprise that deception and politics are intertwined, but are you the person to disentangle them? The Pew Research Center has issued that very challenge, though in the somewhat lighthearted context of an online quiz. This challenges readers to classify given statements as “factual” or simply “opinions,” but it’s harder than you would think!…

Read More

Expressing Control or Displaying Expression?

When understanding how other cultures express emotions, it is almost as important to reflect on our own cultural norms as it is to recognize differing ones. This is essentially what Humintell’s Dr. David Matsumoto and his team find in a recent publication. Dr. Matsumoto studied the role that one’s own cultural norms and sense of…

Read More