“Faces may be hard to read because humans are complex social animals that have learned to suppress the display of emotions for various reasons. It is often inappropriate to show negative emotions like hatred and contempt in public, so people go about wearing socially acceptable faces rather like masks.”

“Women are generally more intuitive about reading the faces of others but they are also easier to read (by both men and women). This is because women tend to be more emotionally expressive.”

“Where body language is giving mixed signals (eg. a smile that borders on a grimace or fails to involve the eyes) then the more negative, less socially desirable component is usually the more telling. This is because we are more often motivated to conceal unpleasant truths and anti-social feelings than pleasant, benign ones.”

“It has been found that people are more sensitive to negative faces, picking sad and angry expressions out of a crowd more quickly than positive ones. This is perhaps because we use them as indicators of threat.”

“In almost any aspect of our social lives, the ability to interpret accurately the signals of body language, and to manage the impression we are giving to others, may be critical to our success, or even our survival.”

“The eyes are the most powerful social signalers that we have and hence are sometimes called 'the windows of the soul' One of the key elments of what is called 'social skills training' is getting just the right amount of eye contact. Too little and we come across as shy and awkward; too much and we seem rude.”

“Obviously, people should be free to present themselves any way they like but they need to be aware that every choice has consequences with respect to how they are perceived. We all have choices to make about how we present ourselves to others but we need to be aware of their likely impact.”