Monday, July 2, 2012

Nonverbal Communication Analysis # 1824:
Mexico's New President has a Poor Poker Face -
Enrique Peña Nieto

Enrique Peña Nieto will be Mexico's new President. His election signals a new crescendo and return to power of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). But the bad news is Enrique has a poor poker face.

Self-touching usually falls into a class of body language behaviors known as Manipulators, Adaptors or Pacifiers (MAPs). Facial self-touching, with rare exception, should never be displayed by a politician/physician/CEO/leader of any type, unless he/she is in private. In general MAPs signal increased anxiety and sometimes deception (depending on what other nonverbals clustered with it). MAPs will transmit feelings of anxiety to the audience - even if it's just one person. I've seen far too many attorneys display a similar face in the courtroom - and you can bet the jury/judge/their client "feels" this anxiety too.

The President elect (who will take office in December 2012) also is displaying a mild amount of mid-face tension - particularly in the "mustache area" above the upper lip. His upper lip itself also displays a trace amount of thinning - which also is an anger indicator. The tension doesn't stop there though - for he is displaying a trace-to-mild amount of nostril flaring, also seen with anger and disgust.