How do you look when feeling anxious? facial displays of anxiety

Although anxiety is a frequent and disabling emotional state, the display of this affect through facial actions has not been previously studied. Participants were videotaped while describing an anxious past event, and answering stressful and nonstressful questions regarding reactions to the anxiety-producing experience. High and low self-rated anxious segments were coded using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). Results showed that more facial movements involving elements of the fear expression and more eye blinks were displayed during high vs low anxious segments. There was also an increase in total facial movement during high vs low anxiety. Nonenjoyment smiles were exhibited more often than enjoyment smiles, and females smiled less than males as anxiety increased. Facial actions indicative of other affect states (anger, sadness) did not distinguish anxiety level. Level of anxiety could be differentiated on the basis of specific facial movements related to fear and arousal.