It's written all over your face.

When talking about facial expression in Intercultural Communication, we all laughed about it.  Half of us were on the side that we could control our facial expressions, and the other half said we couldn't.  But I'm serious.  This is one non-verbal expression I can't fix.  

So when there's a kid in class that just blurts out something non-related to discussion?  Yeah, they get a look; I can't control it.  So, I decided to do some research.  In a study done by Howard Berenbaum and Ann Rotter (titled The Relationship Between Spontaneous Facial Expressions of Emotion and Voluntary Control of Facial Muscles), they state:

"It is possible that some individuals are more facially expressive than others because they are more likely to have emotions elicited in them than are other individuals. It is also possible, however, that some individuals are more facially expressive, not because the emotions that are elicited in them are more numerous or intense, but because the same input to the motor system leads to more intense output."

I agree with this statement. I do think it's some sort of 'motor system' reflex.  Even when I try to control it, I just end up looking silly, start laughing, or someone asks me what's wrong with my face. (I tried it the other day..)  

I think it's something we've been doing for so long, that we can't control it.  When something surprising happens, we can't help but let our jaw drop.  We've all had points where we're mad and we keep trying to hold that serious face while a friend is trying to get us to smile.  It's just those shocking, sad or happy moments that happen unexpectedly - we can't help but show our non-verbal message.

So we know what we show?

I'll compare singing and acting.  

While I believe both singers and actors may learn how to try and control facial expressions, I believe it's harder to do for singers.  When you're trying hard to hit those notes or sing a sad song, it's a different kind of emotion than when you're 'acting' a part.  It's like smiling and being surprised.  You can control a smile, it's something that tends to come naturally.  But when you're surprised, it catches you off guard.  Therefore, I don't believe it can be controlled.

Does gender matter when expressing emotion?

In a study done by J. Hall (titled Smiling and Gazing), he states that "women are more facially expressive then men.  Women may be less expressive than men with displays of anger, yet more expressive with positive feelings and smiling."

I disagree with this statement.  I know women who can get really angry and men who are positive and frequently smile.  I think expression as form on non-verbal communication has nothing to do with the sex of a person; I feel this statement is a gender stereotype.

No matter if you're surprised, angry, happy, confused, man or woman I believe facial expressions are hard to control--and even if controlled will still have a micro-expression.  I've never met a person that hasn't shown a sudden facial reaction to something around them, and with studies done to prove that some sort of reaction comes from everyone, it's hard to say this isn't true.

:)