Using Body Language to Decode Emotions

Introduction
"...One of the biggest challenges of emotional decoding is that there are different types of emotional communications, each with a different focus and level of complexity. In general, a distinction can be made between expressive, conventional and rhetorical communication..."
Seph Fontane Pennock et al, 2019

Three types of communications

i) expressive (is directly influenced by the dominant emotion you are experiencing now, ie unfiltered expression; primary focus is on you, eg
"...- shouting because of anger
     - lifting arms because of pride
     - crying because of fear..."
Seph Fontane Pennock et al, 2019
These emotions are relatively easy to decode.)

ii) conventional (the aim is to make sure the other party(ies) understands and knows how you feel; need to be able to communicate  the emotions you are feeling, eg telling someone you are disappointed because they did not show up)

iii) rhetorical (involves strategically communicating emotions to accomplish social goals; focus on interaction between the sender and receiver, eg
    - impression management (appearing strong or genuine)
    - relationship management (communicating appreciation)
    - managing others' feelings (comforting, aggravating, provoking, etc)

Need to be able to accurately read the other person's true emotions.
"...people can suppress or exaggerate emotions they experience, and deliberately send emotional messages that do not correspond with their actual emotions. It is not uncommon for people to decide to sacrifice the goal of expression and accuracy in the interests of other social goals, such as deceiving others about one's true feelings in order to spare them hurt......or using ambiguity to avoid taking a stand..."
J. B. Bavelas et al as quoted by Seph Fontane Pennock et al, 2019