Facial Expressions

[nearfantastica]

I've recently been told, by a complete stranger, that I seem like the type to commit murder. She informed me that I (somehow) seem expressionless and angry. As I'm rarely actually angry I find this somewhat...confusing.

Have any other INTPs been given hell over their lack of facial expressions? And do people typically always have expressions? I've never really noticed...

 

[Cavallier]

I get that fairly often. I suspect that whe this happens it is because someone takes a my blank expression and subconciously adds "angry" to it in their minds.

You might find this thread and this thread of interest.

Also:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v98CPXNiSk

 

[nearfantastica]

That video gave me a good laugh.

 

[just george]

Instead of getting insecure about your angry murder face, work on your one liners.

Stranger: "You have the face of someone who would commit murder"
INTP Angry Face: "did you say the face of someone who has committed murder?"
Stranger: "No no, just the face of someone who would"
INTP Angry Face: *looks around shiftily* "Eeeeeeexcellent."

 

[EditorOne]

Jeez, it practically screams for you to say "You shouldn't talk to strangers." And then smile.

Don't worry about it. Sometimes people project their own emotional state onto others.

 

[ByelobogHorn]

My mother recently told me I always look either sad or angry, though I'm usually mellow, and quiet for the most part. She's supposedly an INFJ, so she's constantly trying to psychoanalyze everyone(she's right a lot of the times)

 

[DrGregoryHouse]

The INTP state of mind naturally leads to unhappiness, relative to the general masses that is.

The thing is that many others of the more common types might be just as unhappy or more unhappy inside but they mask it with all that fake smile social expectations BS.

The thing is I might not have been unhappy in the moments prior to someone asking, "whats wrong". But, the assumption in the question leaves me unhappy.

Most people are stupid and most of what they do/ say is meaningless. Just ignore most of them.

 

[chatelking]

Most people I know always say that I have an expressionless face with cold-sleepy eyes. My sister always told me to fix my expression. -_-

 

[Brontosaurie]

i've been told i look like i'm freezing and sad and like i'm creepy and distant


probably true

 

[dream&bass]

Sometimes I have a lot of facial gesturing when I am conversing with people in public/school. Honestly though it's kind of a facade that I have to consciously think about while communicating (or be really, really into the discussion then it will surface naturally). If I am just walking around and someone converses with me I am usually disengaged and my face is monoexpressive.

 

[rushgirl2112]

Oh, yes, the kids on my elementary school bus used to refer to me as "Stone Face," because I was always staring out the window.

That said, I do have some opposing forces inside. If you catch me in thought, I'm definitely stony, and I do frown a lot. Sometimes it's because I'm upset, but a lot of times it's just because I'm puzzling something out. However, I can become extremely animated when I'm describing my thoughts to other people - well, if they're the sort that are worthy of hearing them.

And over the years, I've learned how to put on an extroverted shell (mainly out of fear of other people not liking me, and just needing some of it to function in a work environment), which I've been doing for long enough that I don't even have to think about it anymore. Really, it's to the point that people will swear up and down that I'm an extrovert and are outright shocked when I tell them that I'm not. The amount of mental and emotional energy it takes is astounding, though, so I avoid social interactions whenever possible.

Then you have my ancestry. I'm half Italian, although it's clearly my dominant side (physically, emotionally, and mentally). And I have to say that as much as I hate stereotyping generally, there really IS a flair for the dramatic that permeates my entire family on that side, as well as most other Italians I've known. We're expressive, passionate, talkative, often loud, and use lots of hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions. So that part seems to balance me out a bit.

Oh, and as for my experiences, having lived for 40 years with feelings of isolation and being unappreciated, as well as dealing with mental illness (depression and bipolar), I'm very prone to showing signs of intense emotion when I'm with someone "safe." Which pretty much means my husband and occasionally my sisters. It's a side that nobody else sees, though.

So I guess I'm a bit mixed up!

 

[WALKYRIA]

I've recently been told, by a complete stranger, that I seem like the type to commit murder. She informed me that I (somehow) seem expressionless and angry

They told me many times too, my facial expressions vary from: surprised idiot(when I'm chilled and kidding around) to killer's face. But I rarely put up the serious killa face in public because I would scare people around me, I prefere the relaxed/sleepy/ dreamy/ stoned/ neutral/ auto-satisfactory smirk face more, so people know that I cannot really harm anyone with all the intensity.

I'm sometimes scared by my facial expressions on pictures.( Like I would kill someone with all that intensity !)

 

[NoID10ts]

I always look as if someone just killed my puppy by twisting it's head off with their bare hands. In fact, people often walk up to me and say, "Did someone just twist your puppy's head off with their bare hands?" and I say, "No. Why?" and they say, "Because you look like someone just twisted your puppy's head off with their bare hands."

It's a good look for me. Especially since I'm the one who twisted my puppy's head off with my bare hands.

 

[Reality is Optional]

People always tell me I look like I want to punch someone in the face, I look very angry, or that I have the perfect Vulcan face. Personally, I've always blamed my intense eyebrows. But I am from A family of performers and actors, so I can really assume whatever mood if I felt like it. I've also often got that I always, no matter what, have a mischievous glint in my eye. (Often told to me by and INTJ.)

 

[redbaron]

I get this occasionally. I often ask, 'what do you mean I 'look' like a murderer?"

They laugh because they think it's a joke. But I stare blankly right at them until they stop laughing, and then I turn slowly and walk away.

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

I have not yet been openly called a murderer,
but some people have speculated that i might have that kind of personality.
Needless to say, these people did hardly know me at all, so...
i guess people like to talk *rainbows* and that provides the probability that one day they talk *rainbows* about you.

Yes, i have the same issue.
Often times i got asked whether i was sad or angry, well most of the time i am just thinking or daydreaming.
But that is a thing of the past, because i have ordered my "Forced Smile 24/7 Pro Kit":

 

[bbrave]

I'm a INFJ but people always come to me like: “why the sad face?” And I'm like: I'm just zoning out. So don't mind it

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

I'm just zoning out.

Why doesn't everybody do that?