Nonverbal Leaks: Ahmadinejad Essay

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Introduction

In 2007, Iranian President Ahmadinejad welcomed an interview with CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley. The interview takes place in Tehran, technically on Ahmadinejad’s turf. Pelley and Ahmadinejad conduct the interview outdoors, across from each other in simple wooden chairs that have armrests and side tables. Throughout the interview, Ahmadinejad sits with his feet crossed, his right hand occasionally gripping the armrest. Ahmadinejad speaks his mind, and so his contempt for President Bush is honestly verbalized, as when he says things like “President Bush needs to correct his face.” Not knowing Farsi makes it difficult to detect tone of voice leaks. Beyond the content of his answers, though, multiple micro-expressions and nonverbal gestures leak deeper information, possibly offering further insight into Ahmadinejad’s attitudes.

The Face and Eyes

The “most expressive channel of communication,” especially for divulging emotional content, the face reveals much about what Ahmadinejad is saying beyond his words (Ambady & Rosenthal, 1998, p. 2). When analyzing Ahmadinejad’s face for nonverbal leaks, it is important to pay attention to all aspects of the visage including eyebrows, mouth area, cheeks, and of course all aspects of the gaze itself. Due to limitations with the camera and not being able to see closely things like the subject’s pupils, it is impossible to know if arousal has led to nonverbal leaks like pupil dilation. Furthermore, even when resting Ahmadinejad’s eyes are somewhat squinted. The squinting serves the purpose of veiling his feelings, even when he looks directly at the interviewer and appears to be making and maintaining eye contact. On a handful of occasions during the interview though, Ahmadinejad turns his gaze to the camera, speaking directly to the American audience. The gesture is undoubtedly conscious, as it requires effort and foresight to seek out the appropriate camera and look directly at it, and signals a tone of defiance that Ahmadinejad belies throughout the entire interview. For example, when he is speaking about religion and ethics, Ahmadinejad looks directly at the camera for a brief moment as he pontificates.

One of the most persistent of all of Ahmadinejad’s nonverbal leaks is the furrowing of his brows, consistent with narrow eyes. This combination of facial expressions constitutes contradicting behaviors, which indicate the subject is sending a mixed message or double meanings (“Nonverbal Communication,” n.d.). Ironically, though, Ahmadinejad will exhibit these expressions when he is saying negative things about the United States, possibly indicating that his antagonism is more of a show for the Iranian people or the anti-American elements in his country than his true feelings.

On several occasions, particularly while constructing some of his monologues like the one about religion, Ahmadinejad glances to the right and slightly downwards. He does this while raising his brows. As Ahmadinejad appears to be right handed, judging by his almost exclusive use of the right hand when making gestures, the direction of his eye gazes indicate “constructed feeling,” (Nonverbal Communication,” n.d., p. 161). Constructed feelings are essentially inauthentic, manufactured feelings.

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The eye gesture indicates that the speaker is a primarily emotional processor, and it also indicates that the emotional content of his communication may be insincere. When he hears President Bush is a “religious man,” Ahmadinejad launches into an emotional discussion, using rhetorical questions about whether any religion condones violence and killing. His eye movements indicate that Ahmadinejad constructs feelings of disgust and righteousness when he speaks about the hypocrisy of claiming to be religious while using violent political tactics.

When asked what he admires most about President Bush, Ahmadinejad unleashes a torrent of nonverbal leaks that mainly include brow and smile microexpressions. Because each question is being translated live, there is an unnaturally long pause between question and answer, making it hard to know what part of the pause is a nonverbal leak and what part is Ahmadinejad listening to the translation. Yet it is immediately apparent when he does hear the full question because his mouth twitches—an involuntary gesture even the subject may not have been aware of. “A twitch of the mouth or the eyebrow can suggest that the emotion being communicated is not the emotion actually being felt,” (“Nonverbal Communication,” n.d., p. 162). After the slight twitch, the subject quickly glances to the right—another microexpression—before furrowing his brow and responding that he believes President Bush should change his face. Ahmadinejad is, in fact, frank that he admires little to nothing about Bush. He even grins and then throws the question back at the interviewer, asking, “Tell me, as an American citizen, what trait do you admire about President Bush?” The act of throwing the question back mirrors the defiance Ahmadinejad showed earlier.

Likewise, Ahmadinejad retains a stiff grin throughout the interview. The grin constitutes a false smile: which uses fewer facial muscles than an authentic smile, and could even veer into a sneer, which signals contempt (“Nonverbal Communication,” n.d.). For example, Ahmadinejad smiles largest when he hears what President Bush said about his making “terrible decisions” and turning Iran into a “pariah.” The smile is inauthentic, and sends the message that he thinks President Bush is a joke. Yet when he considers Bush’s harsh words, Ahmadinejad’s face erupts into one of the few full, almost genuine smiles of the interview. Unlike the inauthentic grin he wears during the bulk of the conversation, the full smile involves the speaker’s entire face, including the muscles in his cheeks.

Because all of the nonverbal leaks exhibited during the interview indicate that Ahmadinejad may be lying, it is certainly possible that his vocalized contempt for American foreign policy is an act. He wants the audience to believe that he is….....

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