Micro-eyerolls

First micro-eyeroll at five seconds. I invite you to mute the sound and count the number of micro-eyerolls in the first fifteen seconds. Source of video

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book titled Blink. In one chapter he interviews experts at body language. The experts make an extraordinary claim, that they can watch a few minutes of interaction and determine whether a couple will still be together in a year.

The researchers demonstrated by showing a short video clip of a man and a woman discussing whether they should get a pet. The man wanted a dog. The woman did not.

After fifteen seconds the researcher said, "They won't be together for long."

The key in that clip was the frequency of "micro-eyerolls".

What is a micro-eyeroll?
First, let's start with what an eye roll communicates. When somebody rolls their eyes in a conversation they are overtly communicating "I have zero respect for you. Your opinions are utter bullshit that I have no intention of giving any consideration."

Another variation on this is "I am telling you lies and you are SO stupid that you will believe them."

Parents of teenagers know what I mean.

A micro-eyeroll is a semi-feral eye roll. It makes the barest concession to civility. It hides just enough so the other party in the conversation is not forced to call them out.

The person doing the eye rolls still lets enough shine through so the contempt is still communicated. Let me repeat, the person sending the micro-eyerolls wants the other party to know, at some level, that the sender despises them.

The micro-eyeroll is picked up by slowing down the video and looking for the upward movement of the irises as the lids start to close and partially closed eyes with the irises not showing.

This is a good example of a classic micro-eyeroll at the nine second mark. The makers of horror and zombie movies knows this freaks us out at a visceral level. The person doing micro-eyerolls does not regard the other person as human. The other person is either expendable or dinner.

Another, more subtle version is to lift the head and let the fact that you are looking upward "print" through your eyelids. This works when you start the eye roll as your lids are closing to telegraph your intention. This image was taken at the eleven second mark and is a separate even from the nine second micro-eyeroll.

As shown by the puppy example at the lead in, the topic is less important than the other party to the conversation.

The live audience is not the target because they cannot see her face. Remember, the micro-eyeroll is intentional. The sender WANTS the other party to know the sender has no respect for the other party.

That leaves us with two choices: Is the primary target the interviewer or is the primary target everybody who watches TV?

While audience is more important than the topic, the timing of the eye rolls is probably triggered by the specific phrases. The micro-eyerolls are exclaimation points "And this is the TOTALLY, UTTER BULLSHIT!!!"

At the five second mark Bellatrix Lestrange said "...thousands of Americans died..."

At the nine second mark Lestrange said "...terrorist attacks on US soil..."

At the eleven second mark Lestrange said "...our national response..."

What I see as a common thread is underlined.