Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Reading Emotions Eyes vs. Mouth

Recently I've been reading about new clear masks which enable the hearing impaired to read the lips of people wearing masks. 



Although I can hear and don't lip read, I think it is hard to read the emotions of someone wearing a mask. I rely on seeing their mouth expressions to understand how they are feeling. Mask wearing is not new for Japanese people, so I asked my students about this. They told me they can tell emotions from the eyes not the mouth, which may explain why wearing dark glasses are not common (although I think it is also eye color that determines the need for dark glasses). I learn many things from my students. 


What do you think - eyes or mouth for reading emotions?

7 comments:

kiwikid said...

I agree, I find it a bit weird not being able to see mouths, then when people wear dark glasses and a beanie, I am wondering who they are going to burgle!!!

diamondc said...

Pamela: Seeing the mouth is very imprortant in this world, seeing a smile is a joy. I hope this mess is over soon and we can get back to the way things should be.

Catherine

SUWA said...

“Eyes are windows of mind”. “Eyes say more than mouth”. “Face is laughing,but eyes aren't laughing”.
These are old saying of Japanese.There are many words about eyes in Japanese.
I realized this traditional notion.

Jeanie said...

You can definitely tell by eyes. But also the face, mouth, the whole thing. And of course, they are used to it!

Queeniepatch said...

I think eyes say more than the mouth. The corners of a mouth will drop by age and you can look sad or grumpy even when you feel just 'neutral'.
Visuallly impared people need to read the WORDS on the lips, but emotions can be read in the whole face, and body too, hunched up sholders, knotted fists etc.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I need the whole face. With my grandson, I need to see the dimple on his chin to see if he is truthful (no dimple) or telling me a whopper (spoof). Seriously, I'm not good at reading faces. I read a book that said if a person blinks a lot while answering a question they are probably lying.

I wear dark glasses because I was told bright light helps cause cataracts.
xx, Carol with a smile on my face and a twinkle in my eye!

Leonore Winterer said...

I haven't noticed any issues with people wearing masks before - I can still tell if someone is smiling by their eyes! It's sometimes harder to understand them, though.