Non-verbal Signals of Secondary Emotions: Identifying Guilt, Shame and Pride

Abstract

The present article aims to present the non-verbal indicators of guilt, shame and disgust – secondary emotions, – revealed in the last decades by psychological science. A non-verbal signal can include items such as facial expressions, head position, and self-directed behaviors. Secondary emotions such as guilt, shame and pride and their described non-verbal cues can be an important source of information in investigations that involve analysis of court hearings in court depositions providing subsidies for strategic decision-making and for handling the deposition investigation process. This article contains a narrative review that describes three secondary emotions and their non-verbal indicators. Non-verbal indicators of secondary emotions are presented according to the conceptualization of the facial action coding system (FACS) and technical recommendations referenced by the specialized literature. Guilt, shame and pride exhibit non-verbal, objective and distinct indicators of expressiveness.