Friday, February 11, 2011

Tears, Real and Fake; Tearing up the Rightwing Weepers

I came across this fascinating article about the resignation of the very naughty Republican Congressman from New York who was busted lying and trying to cheat on his wife on Craig's List.  What is it with these Republican exhibitionists anyway?  We have the shirtless Christopher Lee, the Cosmo naked centerfold Senator Scott Brown.


And we have of course the prominent public weepers on the right, for which there is no equivalent on the left, Weeper of the House John Boehner, who blubbers at the drop of a hat on cue.  This uncontrolled emotion, or at least sham emotion, from the third in line to the Presidency? (Can you imagine the criticism that she would have received if Nancy Pelosi had done that?)  And the legendary hoaxer and absolutely crazy conspiracy promoter Glenn Beck cries like a baby pretty much daily, (Beck is who other crazies on the right like Michele Bachmann claim inform the right wing majority of congress, which would explain a lot.)

Don't get me wrong; I'm enlightened enough to appreciate that it is appropriate and perfectly manly for a man to cry when the circumstances justify it.  I applaud anyone who is psychologically healthy by being in touch with their own emotions; it is a good thing. But as often as these two do it would annoy me coming from any man, woman or child, and they do it when the circumstances don't seem to justify it.  That to me smacks of manipulative, dishonest behavior.

But it seems evident to me that Boehner and Beck both cry crocodile tears, and cry them often.  I don't find a moment of their blubbering to be sincere, a completely different reaction than the one I have to the tears of honest men of any political conviction.  So it seems a perfect opportunity to test the theory of PhD candidate Leanne tenBrinke  of the Centre for the Advancement of Psychology and Law, at the University of British Columbia, published in a recent edition of Law and Human Behavior.  Here is her study, because sadly too often the media misrepresents science in their attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator, so it is worthwhile to go to the source.


The purpose of this study was to help those in the legal professions - like judges, jurors, parole officers, (and presumably law enforcement as well would benefit) - to detect insincerity and dishonesty.  Can you imagine a better tool with which to evaluate our public figures?  While former Congressman Lee did not read his own apology and resignation - which would have revealed his actual sincerity or lack of it, (no doubt with the obligatory unhappy wife forced to stand by his side in humiliation), Boehner and Beck blubber in front of the cameras all the time.  We could try out the attractively brainy tenBrinke's findings on Beck daily.

How can we try this out at home? Here's how:
Her analysis of nearly 300,000 frames of both the upper and lower face showed that participants who displayed false remorse exhibited more of the seven universal emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise, and contempt) than those who were genuinely sorry.

"We found that during falsified remorse, people showed a greater range of emotional expression,” she says. “They were more likely to show anger and contempt, where as the genuine folks didn't show these kinds of emotions."

Working with Professors Stephen Porter and Brian O’Connor from the Centre for the Advancement of Psychology and Law (CAPSL) at UBC's Okanagan campus, and Sarah MacDonald from Memorial University of Newfoundland, ten Brinke's research showed that the sequence of facial emotions could also reveal important clues to deception.

"Particularly in the lower face, liars were much more likely to be what we termed as 'emotionally turbulent,'" says ten Brinke. "This means they were more likely to jump from positive to negative emotions immediately. During genuine remorse, people are more likely to return to a neutral emotion in between the extremes."
Of course, for this to really work, it would be better to have some footage of Bohener and Beck in front of the cameras telling the truth, and speaking sincerely.  Getting that footage for comparison is the hard part. But until that footage becomes available, we can still observe the lower facial expressions of Boehner and Beck, and their rather dramatic mood swings.  Good job Ms. tenBrinke (hopefully very soon Dr. tenBrinke!  I love the idea of the cross over of this kind of science into our daily poli-sci.  Lets hope we can add more research like this to our understanding of current events and political decisions.

5 comments:

  1. What's the big deal? If it's fake, why give it press? If it's real, why give it press?

    Surely there is something else we can talk about!

    Sometimes I think the extreme left and right just look for ways to demean each other when they should be looking for ways to find common ground.

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  2. The big deal seems to have gotten lost in what I had intended to be a bit lighthearted. It is this:
    "ten Brinke's research showed that the sequence of facial emotions could also reveal important clues to deception."

    It could be useful for us ordinary citizens to use to tell when our public officials and pundits are knowingly, intentionally lying to us, when they are engaged in deception.

    My understanding from a quick look at ten Brinke's work is that this is effective when there is a level of emotional involvement taking place. The more neutral the expression, the less drama and active affect, the less this shows us very much about intention.

    But Beck and Boehner DO display lots of emotions, especially Beck, and that makes this more applicable to them than say no-drama Obama who is far more calm and steady in how he proceeds.

    And a whole heckuva lot more dignified too.

    On another level, it provides us an insight into a double standard that might not be as evident to those on the right. Think about it - can you imagine the criticism of Obama, as a black man, or Pelosi, as a woman, if either of them carried on like Beck, or even Boehner? They would be crucified in the media. That is an emotional display reserved for older rich white conservative men. No body else.

    So....I say lets apply the latest science to it! And if we can get a smile out of the idea in the process it's a double win.

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  3. I'm afraid I have to agree with Leslie on this one. Making much ado about nothing, even light heartedly appears mendaciously motivated, thus demeaning the author rather than the subject.

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  4. I'm not sure what word you do mean, but I'm pretty sure it is not mendacious:
    men·dac·i·ty   /mɛnˈdæsɪti/ Show Spelled
    [men-das-i-tee] Show IPA

    –noun, plural -ties for 2.
    1. the quality of being mendacious; untruthfulness; tendency to lie.
    2. an instance of lying; falsehood.

    I thought this was intriguing new science. Further, I believe the ability to detect mendacity when it comes from manipulative public figures is useful and important.

    As important aseitherof those two things are, the chance to underline the existence of a double standard, as exists here is the first step towards eliminating that double standard, so I saw not one but several potential benefits in writing this.

    I'm very sorry if it strikes you as perhaps petty (not mendacious) but given the use and abuse that Beck in particular makes of crying to promote his over-the-top crazy right wing conspiracy hoaxes, well, those deserve nothing but a good laugh - a laugh at him, a laugh at the conspiracies.

    For all that you might find this not worthwhile, I suggest you try what ten Brinke suggests, look at video, and then watch for the signs she outlined.

    Another technique that is fascinating to try is watch someone in video footage first with the sound on, and then with the sound off. With the sound off, you will see things in thebody language and facial expression you totally missed the first viewing that can be amazing indicators of honesty or dishonesty in what they are saying.

    Beyond that we shall perhaps have to agree to disagree on this one.

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  5. Alas, being in court isn't as exciting as the media makes it out to be. For example, most federal cases end in a plea agreement.

    But, that's a long topic.

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