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What Does Resting Face and Resting Bitch Face Mean, Body Language Expert Patti Wood Explains Resting Face

Here is an article I contributed to as a body language expert. I love that many years ago I created the term resting face and now it's part of the national consciousness!
I woke up this morning with two creases between my eyebrows that were so deep, they might as well have been independently memorizing the philosophies of Nietzsche to share at an upcoming dinner party. This state of perma-furrow, thanks to some weird sleeping position I vow to never repeat, left me actually feeling frustrated rather than my everyday situation of just looking frustrated. You see, because I suffer from resting bitch face (RBF), I don’t need additional features or accessories to make me come across as less friendly—with the operative words here being “come across as.” That’s because I’m not actually unfriendly—it’s just, you know, the way my resting face looks. What I wish everyone would realize, though, when parsing answers to the question of what does RBF mean and what does it not is that there are many ways to convey emotions, and not all of them rely on what your face is doing. supporting my contention that having RBF really has little if anything to do with actually having the attitude of a B is a recent study by Ohio State University, which points out that facial expressions don’t always show the full spectrum of what a person is feeling. So, what does RBF mean if not conveying a sense that the person sporting the expression is angry, unenthused, and unwelcoming? To help me fight the good fight against RBF stigma, below, a body-language expert explains the demystifies why RBF is received the way it is.

What does RBF mean, according to a body-language pro?

1. RBF IS ROOTED IN A SMILE—BUT NOT A GREAT ONE

“Your face can make over 10,000 different expressions and over 50 different kinds of smiles, and RBF is actually a smile of contempt,” says Patti Wood, body language expert and author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma. “Contempt is a feeling that a person or thing is beneath consideration, worthless, and deserving of scorn. When someone feels contempt, they often feel superior to others, though people in subordinate power positions can feel contempt to their superiors.”
What this amounts to is a kind-of crooked smile, or even a slight sneer. “What you are seeing is one side of the lip pulled back slightly or a very slight raising the outside corners of the mouth and freezing in place,” she says. “The lack of symmetry of the mouth is seen by others not just as unattractive, but that there is something wrong that is being hidden. It alerts the viewers central nervous system to be on guard and creates a stress response,” says Wood.

2. NEUTRAL OR NOT, RBF STILL CONVEYS AN EMOTION

“The broader category of ‘resting face’ is the typically neutral expressions a face shows when not actively showing an emotion,” says Wood. “But because your facial expressions actually do move muscles in your face, whatever emotions you show the most may form expressions. Interestingly, it can be the emotion a person believes they are actually suppressing.”
“‘Resting face’ is the neutral expression of not showing an emotion. But because facial expressions move muscles in your face, whatever emotions you show the most may form expressions.” —Patti Wood, body-language expert
So a neutral-seeming RBF might still be showcasing some trace elements of feelings you’ve pushed down in the past. While you might not actually be angry or feel negatively at all, if you’re one to push down feelings of contempt or frustration or sadness, that maybe what’s showing. That is, even if your face is relaxed, it still shows traces of emotion. And to take it a step further, the expression might inform what you’re currently feeling. “Think of it as like the lingering effects of a lot of alcohol in your body: You will feel it even if you haven’t had a drink in hours,” Wood says.
3. RBF IS INTERPRETED DIFFERENTLY BASED ON GENDER
Men experience RBF at the same rate as women, but when men make the expression, they’re perceived more so as powerful rather than, well…bitchy, Wood says, adding that “smiling differs in males and females.”

4. YOU CAN MINDFULLY SHIFT YOUR RBF

“Do resting-face check-ins throughout the day and self-correct,” says Wood. “Look in the mirror in the morning and throughout the day, and check on the cues that show RBF. Change your expression to be what you feel comfortable showing. You don’t have to smile if you don’t want to.” To be clear, that means there’s no need to fake smile, ever. 
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-advice/what-does-rbf-mean/?fbclid=IwAR2pQOXy6Csiv3IfI0I8_E7ehkbLFumYDSBhDYUtuFp5AMMsMSeZrU8kKdk


Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

A Body Language Expert Analyzes Historical Photos, Body Language Expert Patti Wood


Other than the read I did of Melania was an entirely different photo than the one they used so that the reader has nothing to do with their new photo and is totally inaccurate this story turned out great! I have asked them to change the first photo to the one I actually analyzed and hope they make the change.

Here is the link to the body language story.

https://www.rd.com/culture/body-language-iconic-photos/page/2/?fbclid=IwAR2LFuX7znOQa8cojlwBcF_dkQf6J4h9L5tCCNfNMhbT415TDwQoEbsu5Dg


Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

What Is a Resting Bitch Face, What it means and What You Can do About it, Body Language Expert Patti Wood give you RBF tips.


1. Your face can make over 10,000 different expressions and over 50 different kinds of smiles and RBF is actually a smile of contempt.

2. Contempt is a feeling that a person or thing is beneath consideration, worthless and deserving of scorn. When someone feels contempt, they often feel superior to others, though interestingly people in subordinate power positions can feel contempt for their superiors. Contempt is a sign of annoyance and sometimes a sign of anger and you can see therefor why seeing someone showing is disturbing.

3. What you are seeing is one side of the lip pulled back slightly or a very slight raising of the just the outside corners of the mouth and freezing in place (may appear as a slight sneer) and the eyes squinting slightly or a tightening around the eye and sometimes the addition of the “lines of focus” above the bridge of the nose wrinkling. It there is the one side up a form of RBF it indicates that the limbic system is showing the true emotion of contempt while the neocortex is trying to suppress it and the lack of symmetry of the mouth is seen by others not just as unattractive but that there is something wrong that is being hidden and it alerts the viewer's central nervous system to be on guard and creates a stress response.

4. The broader category of “Resting face” is the typically neutral expressions a face shows when you are not actively showing emotion but because of your facial expression actually do move muscles in your face whatever emotions you show the most may form expressions that someone feels often. Interestingly it can be the emotion that a person believes they are actually SUPPRESSING!” So people with RBF may insist that at that moment when they are showing RBF that they are NOT “angry” or feeling negative about a person or topic what is showing on their face is the thousands of times they have felt contempt/anger/negatively.

Whatever expression your face shows even if it's just a hint of expression that expression sends the message to your brain to feel the matching emotion and create the matching chemicals to RBF sends “prescription” to the brain to feel contempt/anger/disproval. Think of it as, like the lingering effects of a lot of alcohol in your body, you will feel it even if you haven’t had a drink in hours.

5. Though RBF is not gender-specific people often think of it as being a female expression and judges harshly in women. Research shows men give RBF just as much as women, but the expression is perceived as making the men seem more powerful.
6. There are gender differences in how RBF is perceived that are complex. Smiling differs in males and females with boys reducing big teeth showing smiles about the age of five and girls starting to smile more than the body in mixed-gender groupings starting in about fourth grade. Women smile more often socially to be liked and to increase the community. High-Status people smile less. Men who smile less have been shown to have more testosterone. Research shows that men are most sexually attracted to women who looked happy and are more uncomfortable around women who aren’t smiling. The United States, there is a greater sex difference among Caucasians in smiling, but this difference virtually disappears among African Americans. Men are often uncomfortable when a woman who typically smiles in not smiling. (I believe men who say, "why aren't you smiling?" are concerned that a non-smiling woman may be angry or trying to assert power if she is not smiling.

7. If you have RBF and want to get rid of it there are things you can do it.
Get Botox in the little V frown lines above your nose. Those lines just make you look angry they create that “prescription” for the anger that I mentioned in 4. If you have that one lip that is asymmetrical you can get Botox to correct it as well. There are some subtle makeup tricks to help as well look for video tutorials on those.

Do resting face check-ins throughout the day and self-correct. Look in the mirror in the morning and throughout the day and check on the cues that show RBF and change your expression to be at what you feel comfortable showing. You don’t have to smile if you don’t want to. Also do check in on how you are feeling as you go into important interactions and see if you can change your mood to what is optimal for the interaction. Do you want to feel confident, recall a situation in your life when you feel exhilarated and filled with confidence and as you recall it your brain will reproduce the matching chemicals? The same goes for happiness or other emotions. Research also shows that listening to music or singing or even imagining your self-hearing or singing a song that contains the emotion you want to feel, or show can create it so you RBF disappears. But, remember you typically have it, because you have felt it a lot so it's not going to disappear forever with one round of singing out Walking on Sunshine or Pharrell Williams Happy.
8. If you see someone showing RBF remember (especially guys) that being told to smile is supremely annoying. It’s condescending, for one. And it can make the non-smiler angry because at some level it’s a request that they diminish their power.






Patti Wood, a body language expert and author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma and has conducted research on smiling in the US and Canada.








Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.


Patti Wood, a body language expert and author of

Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma and has conducted research on smiling in the US and Canada. 


Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

Malignant Narcissism and the "Collapse of Time" That Makes their Pain Never Ending

Many of you know I write about malignant narcissism. This article explains “ The collapse of time phenomenon” that explains among other things, why malignant narcissists lie with such conviction! They have to need to stay in the present moment. And why they bring up past events in a never-ending fashion and seek revenge!
Most of us have a sense of time that is liner like we are traveling on a train.
With a “collapse of time” events that occurred years ago carry the same emotional power (and impact upon decision making and behavior) as events occurring at the moment.
So a Malignant Narccissts lies to protect himself/herself at that moment.
Past hurts, hurt, just as much as they did when they first occurred so the MN’s pain is never-ending.
Since time is not linear, They need to save themselves now at this moment at any cost to anyone and don’t think about how their actions affect the future. Consequences don’t matter. There is no possibility of redemption.


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/eternal-emperor-in-his-own-mind-the-distorted-reality_b_5929abfee4b07d848fdc0429?fbclid=IwAR2dr7RyZS_wftBNUGnHDd5pr3lMFJ_XmjK6ns0A3otNfo0J0H1aa3qNPro

Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

Hitler and a child Body Language Read by Body Language Expert Patti Wood


I am an expert on Hitler’s body language and have watched 100’s of hours of videos of him as well as over 1,000 still photos of him. He was none for planning meticulously and rehearsing for not just his speeches but also his one on one meetings. He would find out about his "audience" and create a character and script to create whatever result he wanted. 
But I noticed that Hitler when caught not being "on", seemed incredibly uncomfortable and awkward in his interactions. He had to have his "Mask" on.

I saw this in Photo "OPs" with Children. See the photo below.
He never seems to really connect, instead, he seems like an outsider looking on. This photo shows exactly that. The child with a sun-in-her eyes unhappy squint is focused and facing the photographer confidently posed and right elbow back and her right elbow out and back in a “power block” to Hitler from getting closer while Hitler sits behind her slightly hunched forward and left hand awkwardly and passively placed between his legs.
This photo reveals something that I see in Hitler his lack of full confident self-esteem when he is not fully “on” and in Character as well as his awkwardness with Children who have the ability, because their reliance on nonverbal cues rather than fancy words, can have the ability to see to a person’s true soul.


In high school, I was in a special summer program for gifted kids in German language and history. I spoke German before I spoke English because we lived in Germany when I was a child and I was fascinated with l all aspects of World War II from Toddler age when our German housekeeper/nanny would dangle the bangles of gold on her wrist that held her wealth. In the summer program, I began to study Hitler’s body language and overall communication and persuasion style. I continued to read everything I could get my hands on about World War II and Hitler. I had to figure out how someone so evil had risen so high in the power and been adored by the masses.
In my master's program I did research on Hitler’s body language and persuasion style. In the following years as I begin in earnest to analyze politicians and world leaders and as I consulted with the media I looked for similarities and differences in their styles to my knowledge of Hitler's behavior. I discussed them in my credibility deception detection intensive one to three-day workshops. I’ve also discussed him in several documentaries.
This photo was taken after a 10-hour shoot I did for a six-part documentary on Hitler called “Hitler, the rise and fall” it was on the history channel for a while and on Amazon. With a six-part documentary I did three months of intense research analyzing photos and videos some of the films had never been released to the public and was only accessible with special permission for my use for the documentary.

Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.