We all have in mind what an angry face looks like: lowered eyebrows, pursed lips, open nostrils, and an upturned chin. Do the test in front of the mirror. But why these gestures and not others? This is precisely what a team of American and Australian researchers wanted to find out, who have just published their conclusions in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior .
As stated by the study director, Aaron Sell, of Griffith University (Australia), “it is a universal expression, and even children with congenital blindness put that face, without having seen any” . When we get angry, we always contract seven muscle groups in a stereotypical way, and we do it, according to these evolutionary psychology experts, to negotiate a conflict of interest.
The message is that the circumstance that gave rise to the problem is not acceptable; We will not calm down until we reach a satisfactory agreement. But the researchers believe that this non-verbal language would also send another signal to the contrary: if the matter is not solved at our convenience, we are capable of doing harm. It is, therefore, a show of force .
Scientists have found that each of the traits of anger is an indicator of power. For example, when they showed volunteers photos of men with downward and upward eyebrows, with no other anger-related gestures, most said that the former looked like physically stronger people. And when trying the other gestures already mentioned – pursed lips, flared nostrils … – they obtained the same result. It’s like when a baboon shows its teeth: we exaggerate the features that show our ability to fight.
