Descriptions of external manifestations of emotions. External expression of emotions, emotional reactions

By specific content (modality).

All human emotions can be distinguished and classified also by modality, i.e. quality of experience. This aspect of the emotional life of a person is most clearly represented in the theory of differential emotions of the American psychologist K. Izard. He identified ten qualitatively different fundamental emotions: interest - excitement, joy, surprise, grief - suffering, anger - rage, disgust - disgust, contempt - neglect, fear - horror, shame - shyness, guilt - remorse. K. Izard classifies the first three emotions as positive, the remaining seven as negative.

1Interest- a positive emotion, without which it is impossible to learn something new. Interest suppresses pain and enhances joy.

Interest(as an emotion) - a positive emotional state that contributes to the development of skills and abilities, the acquisition of knowledge, motivating learning.

2joy- a positive emotional state associated with the ability to fully satisfy an urgent need. “It is based on the experience of sensual pleasure. In humans, joy is a social feeling, the manifestation of which is a smile. The emotion of joy is important for the mental and somatic health of a person.

Joy- a positive emotional state associated with the ability to sufficiently fully satisfy the actual need, the probability of which up to this point was small or at least uncertain.

3Surprise- an emotional reaction that does not have a clearly expressed positive or negative sign to sudden circumstances. It is caused by a sharp change in the situation and can cause subsequent positive emotions - if the circumstances turned out to be favorable, or negative.

Astonishment- an emotional reaction that does not have a clearly expressed positive or negative sign to sudden circumstances. Surprise inhibits all previous emotions, directing attention to the object that caused it, and can turn into interest.

4 Suffering (Grief)- negative emotional state associated with the information received about the impossibility of meeting the most important vital needs. Sadness - negative emotion associated with the experience and the negative fact (death, separation, disappointment).

Suffering (Grief)- a negative emotional state associated with the received reliable or seemingly such information about the impossibility of meeting the most important vital needs, which up to this point seemed more or less likely, most often occurs in the form of emotional stress.

5Anger- a negative emotional state, negative in sign, as a rule, proceeding in the form of an affect and caused by the sudden appearance of a serious obstacle on the way to satisfying needs that are important for the subject.

Anger- an emotional state, negative in sign, as a rule, proceeding in the form of affect and caused by the sudden appearance of a serious obstacle to satisfying an extremely important need for the subject.

In a state of anger, a person is prone to instant, often impulsive action. Excessively increased muscular excitation with insufficient self-control easily turns into a very strong action. Anger is accompanied by threatening facial expressions, an attack posture. In a state of anger, a person loses objectivity of judgments, performs little controlled actions.

6 Disgust - a negative emotional state caused by objects, contact with which comes into sharp conflict with the moral or aesthetic principles and attitudes of the subject.

Disgust- a negative emotional state caused by objects (objects, people, circumstances, etc.), contact with which (physical interaction, communication in communication, etc.) comes into sharp conflict with the ideological, moral or aesthetic principles and attitudes of the subject. Disgust, if combined with anger, can motivate aggressive behavior in interpersonal relationships where the attack is motivated by anger, and disgust is motivated by the desire to change from someone or something.

7 Contempt - a negative emotional state that occurs in interpersonal relationships, generated by a mismatch of life positions, views and behavior of the subject with life positions, views and behavior of the object of feeling.

Contempt- a negative emotional state, but ticking in interpersonal relationships and generated by a mismatch of life positions, views and behavior of the subject with life positions, views and behavior of the object of feeling. The latter are presented to the subject as base, not corresponding to accepted moral standards and aesthetic criteria.

8Fear- a negative emotional state that appears when the subject receives information about a real or imagined danger.

Fear- a negative emotional state that appears when the subject receives information about a possible threat to his life well-being, about a real or imagined danger. Unlike the emotion of suffering caused by direct blocking of the most important needs, a person experiencing the emotion of fear has only a probabilistic forecast of possible trouble and acts on the basis of this (often an insufficiently reliable or exaggerated forecast).

Fear emerged as a biological defense mechanism. Animals are instinctively afraid of rapidly approaching objects, of everything that can damage the integrity of the organism.
Many of the innate fears persist in humans, although
in the conditions of civilization they are somewhat changed. For many people, fear is an asthenic emotion that causes a decrease in
muscle tone, while the face takes on a mask-like expression.

The highest degree of fear- horror. Horror is accompanied by a sharp disorganization of consciousness (crazy fear), numbness (it is assumed that it is caused by excessively large amounts of adrenaline), or erratic muscular overexcitation ("motor storm").

9Shame- a negative state, expressed in the awareness of the discrepancy - one's own thoughts, actions and appearance, not only with the expectations of others, but also with one's own ideas about appropriate behavior and appearance.

Shame- a negative state, expressed in the awareness of the inconsistency of one's own thoughts, actions and appearance not only with the expectations of others, but also with one's own ideas about appropriate behavior and appearance.

From the combination of fundamental emotions arise such complex emotional states as, for example, anxiety, which can combine fear, anger, guilt and interest. Each of these emotions underlies a whole spectrum of states that differ in degree of expression (for example, joy, satisfaction, delight, exultation, ecstasy, etc.).

10 Wine- a negative emotional state, expressed in the realization of the unseemliness of one's own act, thought or feelings and expressed in regret and repentance.

Emotional experiences are ambiguous. The same object can cause inconsistent, conflicting emotional relationships. This phenomenon has been named ambivalence (duality) of feelings. Usually, ambivalence is caused by the fact that individual features of a complex object affect the needs and values ​​​​of a person in different ways (for example, you can respect someone for their ability to work and at the same time condemn them for their temper). Ambivalence can also be generated by a contradiction between stable feelings towards an object and situational emotions developing from them (for example, love and hate are combined in jealousy).

By changing the vital activity of a person, emotions are expressed in a number of external manifestations. Strong feelings are associated with a change in blood circulation - in a state of anger, fear, a person turns pale, as the blood drains from the outer integument of the skin. From shame or embarrassment, the person blushes, blood rushes to the face. Fear increases sweating, the heart begins to beat hard or, conversely, “freezes”. With anger and joy, breathing quickens.

Emotions are also manifested in expressive movements: facial expressions(expressive facial movements) and pantomime(expressive movements of the whole body - posture, gesture), as well as in the so-called vocal (voice) facial expressions (intonation, expressive pauses, raising or lowering the voice, semantic stresses). Different intonation when pronouncing, for example, the word “what” can express joy, surprise, fear, confusion, anger, indifference, contempt, etc. By facial expressions and pantomime, we, in particular, judge the emotions experienced by a person.

Experiencing joy, a person smiles, laughs, his eyes shine, his arms and legs do not find rest. In a state of intense anger, a person's eyebrows frown, the face turns red, movements become sharp, breathing becomes heavy, and the voice is menacing. And the grief is very expressive outwardly" - the person is all bent over, drooping, his shoulders are lowered, his mouth has a more sorrowful fold, he sobs or, conversely, becomes numb with grief.

Of course, less powerful and deeper emotional experiences do not manifest themselves in such a sharp external form. And in those cases when a person has learned to control expressive movements, to restrain them, emotions may not manifest outwardly at all.

In order to express the deepest and most complex emotions and feelings, humanity in the process of development created art: music, painting, sculpture, poetry. Works of art, reflecting the great feelings of artists, writers, composers, always excite, evoke emotional responses in people.

As already noted, emotion, of course, is not limited to experiences, and we only conditionally dissect it as a holistic mental phenomenon, analyzing experiences and organic manifestations separately. Peripheral changes, covering the human body in emotions, also have an external expression in characteristic movements; in particular, facial expressions (expressive movements of the face), pantomime (expressive movements of the whole body), as well as in voice reactions (intonation and timbre of the voice). Emotional experiences are expressed not only in strong movements, but also in micro-movements (hand tremor, pupil reactions). Leonardo da Vinci believed that a certain facial expression is an expression not only of the experience of grief or joy, but also of various shades of these experiences: eyebrows and lips change differently for different reasons for crying. This is noticeable during whim crying and goris crying.

Distinctly experiences appear in the eyes (there are up to 85 shades - lively, tender, cold) and in the voice (in case of sadness it is deaf, fear - submissive). "Speak so I can see you," said Socrates.

In our daily life, we constantly use external expressive movements to orient ourselves in the emotional state and moods of those around us. What is the relationship between emotion and expressive movements? Wundt viewed expressive movements as the physical correlate of emotions. This corresponds to the theory of psychophysical parallelism. Expressive movements accompany experiences, the real connection in them exists only with internal organic processes. They express the physiological reaction that accompanies the closed world of inner experiences.

Darwin and Sechenov, on the basis of observations and theoretical generalizations, proved that facial features, and especially facial expressions and other expressive movements, reflect the state of the nervous system and depend on emotions. Darwin approached the explanation of expressive movements from a biological point of view: expressive movements are rudimentary manifestations of previously expedient actions. Since action is not only an external expression of behavior, as behaviorists believed, but it also reveals the inner content of the personality, expressive movements do not accompany emotions, but act as an external form of their existence.

The help of expressive movements can be given on the basis of psychophysical unity, and not parallelism. Expressive movements are a component of emotional manifestation, their component, it is an inevitable continuation of the emotions themselves. Children do not separate feeling from its expression. The subjectivity and subjectivity of emotions (there are no objective correlates of love or hate, and everyone loves and hates in their own way) do not object to the unity of emotions and expressive movements. Pure subjectivity does not exist. It manifests itself in various forms of objectification (for emotions - in gestures, movements, gestures, facial expressions, organic sensations). The objectification of emotional experiences is primarily manifested in sensory-objective activity, in real forms of communication and in the very consciousness of a person. A person experiences his emotions. Objectification also provides for the possibility of cognition of emotions by other people. Observing expressive movements, we reveal the attitude of the subject to the environment, his emotional experiences, his spiritual world.

Expressive movements have an individual character. We perceive the personal background expressed through emotions, we penetrate further, beyond the limits of external expression from the general, which is in many subjective states, to the same, which is in representatives of the same species, and to the individual. At the same time, we deobjectify the emotional world of another person and not only enter this world, but through our expressive movements we reveal our world of emotional experiences.

Emotions have a signaling function. They can act as both an internal signal (this role is performed by their evaluative and incentive functions) and external (expressive function). The external expression of emotions is a translation, a translation of experiences into appropriate movements.

Expressive movements And expressive actions coincide: in joy we do not swing our fists furiously and in anger do not give a tender kiss. Emotions signal us about possible actions, determining their direction. Violation of the coincidence of expressive movements and actions is observed in the case of mental illness, when expressive movements do not correspond to the content of experiences and actions. In mentally ill people, during the experience of grief and pain, a smile freezes on the lips. But expressive movements can also have an arbitrary character. A person with the help of certain expressive movements tries to hide his emotional experiences. We form our experience by forming expressive movements. In the expressive function, as in nothing else, is the specificity of emotions. But not because of physiology and not through the understanding of emotions as a subjective state, and not even because of the subject's attitude to what phenomena. This is the integrity of subjective and objective, that is, the reflective moments given to us in our experience in the form of a single process.

Emotions are internal mental subjective states, characterized by a bright bodily expression specific to them, which manifests itself in vascular reactions, in changes in respiration and blood circulation (in connection with this, in blanching or reddening of the face), in a kind of facial expressions and gestures, in intonation features of speech and etc.

Changes in breathing with emotions. Many emotions are associated with increased muscle activity and a raised voice. This explains the great role that respiratory movements play in emotions, which, as you know, perform a dual function: 1) enhancing gas exchange and providing the oxygen necessary for increased muscular work, and 2) passing air through the glottis and providing the required vibration of the vocal cords.

Respiratory movements during emotions undergo changes in their speed and amplitude characteristic of various emotional states. According to Woodworth, these changes are as follows: with pleasure, there is an increase in both the frequency and amplitude of breathing; with displeasure, a decrease in both; when excited, the respiratory movements become frequent and deep; under tension - slow and weak; in a state of anxiety - accelerated and weak; with unexpected surprise - instantly become frequent while maintaining normal amplitude; with fear - a sharp slowdown in breathing, etc.

Indicative of emotions is also the ratio between the duration of inhalation and exhalation. Sterring (1906) determined this ratio by dividing the time of inhalation by the time of the entire cycle (consisting of inhalation and exhalation) and obtained the following data showing a significant increase in the duration of inspiration in emotional states compared to the duration of exhalation:

• - at rest 0.43,
• - when excited 0.60,
• - with surprise 0.71,
• - with a sudden fright 0.75.

The significance of these data for characterizing emotional processes is emphasized by the fact that during concentrated mental work devoid of emotional excitation, the corresponding coefficient is only 0.30 and tends to decrease even more as concentration increases, i.e. indicates a sharp predominance of the duration of exhalation.

Changes in the frequency of the amplitude of respiratory movements, typical for the corresponding emotions, acquire a stable character in the course of practical activity, being a factor that ensures the required efficiency of this activity. They come not only with the direct performance of the activity, but also with the emotional memory of it. Experiments with athletes show that when they remember difficult and important physical exercises, their breathing acquires the same features that it differed from during direct exercise. This indicates that changes in breathing, as well as vasomotor reactions, are organically included in emotional memory.

Changes in blood circulation during emotions. These changes are characterized by the frequency and strength of the pulse, the magnitude of blood pressure, the expansion and contraction of blood vessels. As a result of these changes, the blood flow speeds up or slows down and, accordingly, blood flow to one and its outflow from other organs and parts of the body is observed. As mentioned above, the heart rate is regulated by vegetative impulses, and also changes under the influence of adrenaline. At rest, the pulse rate is 60-70 beats per minute. When frightened, there is an instant acceleration to 80-90 strokes. With excitement and intense expectation (at the start), the pulse rate rises by 15-16 beats per minute. In general, excitement accelerates blood circulation.

Corresponding changes are observed in the magnitude of blood pressure. When frightened, systolic blood pressure rises. This increase is also observed at the thought of possible pain: in some persons it is detected as soon as the dentist enters the room and approaches the patient. The increase in blood pressure before the first examination day is sometimes 15-30 mm above the norm.

All these changes are connected with the needs of the body in the better performance of the corresponding activity: with a sudden, fright, they lead to a faster and better blood supply to the muscles that have to work (this is reflected in an increase in the volume of the hands due to the flow of blood to them); in anticipation of the exam - to improve the blood supply to the brain, etc.

Mimic expressive movements. A person has a complex facial musculature, which in its significant part performs only the function of facial movements in accordance with the nature of the emotional states experienced by a person. With the help of facial expressions, e. coordinated movements of the eyes, eyebrows, lips, nose, etc., a person expresses the most complex and diverse emotional states: a slightly open mouth with lowering of its corners expresses sadness; lips extended to the sides with raising the corners of the mouth up - pleasure; raised eyebrows - surprise; a strong and sudden raising of the eyebrows, astonishment; grin of teeth - irritation and anger; lifting of the upper lip with a characteristic expansion of the nostrils of the nose - disgust; half-closed eyes - indifference; tightly compressed lips - determination, etc. Facial expressions are capable of expressing very subtle shades of embarrassment, anger, insult, love, neglect, respect, etc. In this case, the expression of the eyes is of great importance. Charles Darwin believed that in the animal ancestors of man, these expressive movements were of practical importance, helping in the struggle for existence: the grin of the teeth and the accompanying growl frightened the enemy; posture and facial expressions of humility reduced his aggressiveness; facial expressions of surprise facilitated the orienting reflex, and so on. In humans, however, these mimic movements have lost their direct vital practical significance and have remained only in the form of simple remnants.

However, a significant number of mimic expressive movements appeared and improved in a person already in the process of his historical development, for example, mimic movements associated with intellectual, aesthetic and moral emotions. They are not innate, but are acquired by a person through imitation in the process of communication with other people and education. To understand these expressive movements in other people, it is necessary to have both the corresponding personal emotional experience and familiarity with universal human experience, which has found its expression in the relationships of people in everyday life or reflected in works of art. So the facial expressions of contempt are not perceived at all and are not understood by children aged 3-5 years; the facial expressions of internal, spiritual suffering become understandable at 5-6 years old, the facial expressions of intellectual surprise - at 10 years old, etc. All this speaks of the great role played by mimic expressive movements in the education of emotions.

Expression of emotions in speech intonation. Since speech plays a huge role in human life, the expression of emotions by raising or lowering or weakening the voice has become of great importance in human relationships. At the same time, the methodology and dynamics of speech can have an expressive meaning regardless and even in contradiction with the meaning and content of the spoken words.

The timbre of the voice, the tempo of speech and its rhythmic (accent) segmentation with the help of pauses and logical stress are also expressive. Words spoken at the same pitch make speech monotonous and devoid of expressiveness. On the contrary, a significant pitch modulation of the voice (for some artists it exceeds two octaves) makes a person's speech very expressive emotionally.

Emotional expressiveness of speech plays a huge role in human communication. By the cumulative action of all these means, a person can express the most complex and subtle emotions - irony, affection, sarcasm, fear, determination, request, suffering, delight, etc. only with the help of his voice.

darwin origin human emotion

Hardly finished with the proofreading of the first edition of The Descent of Man, Darwin immediately, in January 1871, set to work on a new work - On the Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. This book took about 12 months to complete. The book was published at the end of 1872. However, as always, the material on this topic was collected for a long time and gradually. At first it was supposed to devote only one chapter to it in The Descent of Man, but, putting his notes in order, Darwin became convinced that a special treatise would be required. In this book, Darwin explores the ways in which birds, mammals, and humans express emotions. In animals, such methods are, for example, various sounds, ruffling of feathers or wool, a change in the position of the head and ears, the baring of teeth and the functioning of mimic muscles in mammals, etc. Emotional movements are especially expressive in monkeys and in some domestic animals that are in constant proximity to humans (horses, cats, dogs). Many animals have very expressive sensations corresponding to joy, affection, pain, anger, surprise, horror. Of course, when denoting such emotions, one inevitably has to resort to the terminology intended for naming human feelings.

Darwin paid special attention to the expression of emotions in humans. He is interested in the influence of grief and joy on the body, the physiological expression of suffering, crying, love, devotion, favor, determination, reflection, hatred, anger and many other emotional states of a person. To study the expression of emotions, the researcher uses a variety of methods: observing the behavior of children (including his own), studying the mentally ill (through doctors), familiarizing himself with works of painting and sculpture, etc. Darwin sent questionnaires to trusted individuals with many questions, asking him to report his observations on the manifestation of various emotions in children and adults. “My first child,” writes Darwin, “was born on December 27, 1839, and I immediately began to take notes on the first glimpses of the various kinds of expression that he showed, since already at that early period I experienced the conviction that all the most complex and subtle nuances of expression should be of gradual and natural origin."

Darwin was very interested in this work. He considered it primarily as a direct continuation of his work on the origin of man. He was looking for a physiological commonality in the manifestations of emotions in humans and higher vertebrates (primarily mammals, especially monkeys). Such observations provided additional evidence of the animal origin of man. He was also interested in evidence in favor of the common origin of all human races and evidence of the heritability of repetitive habits. "If it turned out that in several different human races the same movements of facial features or bodies express the same emotions, then we could conclude with a high degree of probability that such expressions are true, that is, natural or instinctive."

As a result of his research, Darwin came to the conclusion that the expression of sensations in animals and humans is subject to common fundamental laws, or "general principles."

Darwin came to the conclusion that the main expressive movements produced by man and higher vertebrates are currently innate or hereditary, although in the past they arose as arbitrary movements. Most expressive movements (i.e. movements associated with the expression of emotions) were acquired gradually and only later became instinctive. Here C. Darwin touches on the area of ​​research on conditioned and unconditioned reflexes, which was subsequently developed at the beginning of the 20th century. the famous physiologist I.P. Pavlov.

Darwin's research showed that "all the main expressions peculiar to man are the same in the whole world." This proves once again that all human races descended from the same group of ancestors. Many very similar features in different races of man are due to hereditary transmission from one ancient form, which has already acquired human characteristics. Some human expressions of emotion are still ancient and originate from the ancient apes that gave rise to the human race. Such manifestations of emotions include, for example, laughter as an expression of joy or pleasure. Very many - breeds of monkeys make a sound similar to our laughter with pleasure, while wrinkles form on their cheeks and even a sparkle appears in their eyes.

The study of the theory of expression of emotions, concludes Darwin, confirms the conclusion that "man is descended from some lower animal form, and also reinforces the belief in the species or subspecies unity of various races ..."

A person's experiences can be judged both by a person's self-report about the state he is experiencing, and by the nature of the change in psychomotor and physiological parameters: facial expressions, pantomime (posture), motor reactions, voice and autonomic reactions (heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate). The face of a person has the greatest ability to express various emotional shades.

G.N. Lange, one of the leading experts in the study of emotions, described the physiological and behavioral characteristics of joy, sadness and anger. Joy is accompanied by excitation of the motor centers, which causes characteristic movements (gestures, bouncing, clapping in the palms), increased blood flow in small vessels (capillaries), as a result of which the skin of the body turns red and becomes warmer, and internal tissues and organs begin to be better supplied with oxygen. and the metabolism in them begins to occur more intensively.

With sadness, reverse shifts occur: inhibition of motility, narrowing of blood vessels. This causes a feeling of coldness and chills. The narrowing of the small vessels of the lungs leads to the outflow of blood from them, as a result, the supply of oxygen to the body worsens and the person begins to feel a lack of air, tightness and heaviness in the chest and, trying to alleviate this condition, begins to take long and deep breaths. Appearance also betrays a sad person. His movements are slow, his arms and head are lowered, his voice is weak, and his speech is drawn out. Anger is accompanied by a sharp reddening or blanching of the face, tension of the muscles of the neck, face and hands (clenching the fingers into a fist).

In different people, the manifestation of emotions is different, in connection with which they speak of such a personal characteristic as expressiveness. The more a person expresses his emotions through facial expressions, gestures, voice, motor reactions, the more expressiveness is expressed in him. The absence of external manifestation of emotions does not mean their absence; a person can hide his experiences, drive them deep, which can cause prolonged mental stress that adversely affects the state of health.

People also differ in emotional excitability: some react emotionally to the weakest stimuli, others only to very strong ones.

Emotions are contagious. This means that one person can involuntarily convey his mood, experience to other people communicating with him. As a result, both general fun and boredom or even panic can arise. Another property of emotions is their ability to be stored in memory for a long time. In this regard, a special type of memory is distinguished - emotional memory.

External expressions of emotions. The emergence of an emotional process leads to the formation of new forms of response. Sometimes emotional phenomena are violent and sudden, occurring almost immediately after the action of the exciting agent. This emotion takes the form of an affect.

But emotions can also be formed gradually, without showing up and leaving no traces in the mind. All that remains is an increased readiness for an emotional reaction. Sometimes emotions are not reflected in consciousness at all.

An emotion that has gained sufficient strength and organization is capable of exerting a great influence on the functional state of various mental mechanisms. It manifests itself:
- in the form of expressive movements;
- in the form of emotional actions;
- in the form of statements about experienced emotional states;
- in the form of a certain relationship to the environment.

Why do we need expressive emotional movements? According to Charles Darwin, these are remnants of previously expedient actions. Muscle tension, clenching of fists, gnashing of teeth in anger - all this is the legacy of our distant ancestors, who resolved controversial issues with the help of fists and jaws. “For an example,” writes Darwin, “it suffices to think of such a movement as the oblique position of the eyebrows in a person who suffers from grief or anxiety ... Or such movements as a barely noticeable lowering of the corners of the mouth should be considered as the last traces or remnants movements more pronounced in the past, which had a clear meaning.

Expressive movements today serve as an involuntary accompaniment of emotions: they play a huge communicative role, help communication between people, provide emotional contact between them. It is thanks to facial expressions (expressive facial movements), pantomime (expressive movements of the whole body), emotional components of speech, etc. we learn about the experiences of another person, we ourselves are imbued with these experiences, we build our relationships with others in accordance with them. Understanding the language of emotions helps us find the right tone in communicating with others. Emotions are most fully and vividly expressed by changes in the human face. It is on the face of another person that we “read” joy and sadness, thoughtfulness and anger, love and hatred. In the same way, various shades of feelings and emotions are “read” on our face.

What elements make up the "language of emotions", how is it acquired by a person? Numerous studies have been devoted to these issues. It turned out that the eyes and mouth are most important for expressing emotions.

But usually, when reading emotions in the face, we take into account the whole situation, which suggests the nature of the emotional experience. Joy and fun are guessed faster than fear and suffering.

The accuracy of determining emotions by external manifestations is influenced by the state of the one who evaluates, people tend to attribute to another those experiences that they themselves are covered with.

The principle of "physical actions", i.e. recreating emotions according to its exact external expression, suggested K.S. Stanislavsky for the truthful display of the emotional life of the characters on the stage. Here, of course, we mean not only facial expressions, but also other ways of external expression of emotions: gestures, movements, postures, etc. One of the most powerful ways of expressing emotions and feelings is speech. Intonation, sound strength, rhythm - all this always, on the one hand, depends on our emotional state and, on the other hand, serves as a means of expressing it.

The language of emotions is a set of expressive signs that are universal, similar for all people, expressing certain emotional states. We can correctly understand the emotions of people of other cultures and nationalities. But this universality is not absolute. There are certain national differences, which are determined by traditions and customs. For example, in some parts of Africa, laughter is an indicator of amazement and even confusion, and not necessarily a sign of amusement. In some Asian countries, the guest is expected to burp after eating as a sign that he is completely satisfied. The same gesture in American society is unlikely to entail a second invitation to visit.

Forms of expression of emotions depend on the accepted rules of decency. In our country, for example, it is not customary to laugh out loud in public places, in general, to attract everyone's attention to oneself by the manifestation of one's emotions. There are also individual features in the manifestation of emotions, which depend on the temperament of a person, his upbringing, habits. Sometimes the emotions familiar to a person leave a peculiar imprint on the expression of his face. It is not for nothing that they talk about anxious, cheerful, surprised, etc. faces. However, such a “psychologization” of appearance may be the result of a not entirely correct “reading” of the natural features of the face.