Stanford, CA (NNC) - Presidential candidates are no strangers to criticism or controversy, but a recent study being conducted by a team of scientists at Stanford University could pose an even bigger threat than conventional smear campaigns - scientific scrutiny. Particularly in the case of New York senator Hillary Clinton, her struggle to identify with average American citizen has directly inspired behavioral psychologist Dr. Benjamin Hallow to task an entire team of scientists to figure out exactly what makes Hillary “different.”
The idea for the study first came to Dr. Hallow after he spent several days watching speeches and public appearances of Clinton during her fundraising tour earlier this year. As Senator Clinton addressed the crowd, Dr. Hallow noticed subtle differences in Clinton’s motions and expressions than those exhibited by the general population.
“It was very bizarre, and I couldn’t pinpoint it at first. But then I began to realize small details in the way she smiled, talked and motioned,” said Dr. Hallow. “Having focused on the psychology behind human expression and communication for 30 years, you learn to pick up on some things most people would miss.” When asked to elaborate, he illustrated his point by discussing Clinton’s unique smile.
“When a normal person smiles, it isn’t only the muscles surrounding the mouth that are affected, but the entire face - the eyes will squint, their forehead will crumple. What is so bizarre about Hillary is that when she smiles, the rest of her face remains static and unaffected… very much like a robot.”
Though Dr. Hallow assures us that he doesn’t actually believe Senator Clinton is a robot, he does admit to being baffled by her deviant ways of expressing emotion. This is where his research enters the picture.
To test the impact that Hillary Clinton’s bizarre expressions have on people, Dr. Hallow’s team gathered several pictures of the faces of both Clinton and various other, similar-looking middle-aged women. The researchers then covered all the faces from the eyes up to prevent a subject from recognizing the Senator. The subject would then be shown two photos - one of Hillary and the other of the random woman. In both pictures, the women were expressing the same emotion - happiness, sadness, fear, sympathy. When the subject was asked to identify which of the two expressions was more sincere, 9 out of 10 of those tested chose the picture of another woman. When asked to explain why they hadn’t chosen the other picture, the one of Hillary Clinton, many claimed to believe the photo was of a dead person or a “dummy.”
Pictures such as this one were used
to test Hillary’s emotional sincerity
The findings clearly indicate that there is a discernable difference between the way Senator Clinton expresses emotion and the average person. And since the experiment, Dr. Hallow has been compelled to further study the Senator in order to one day fully understand how she differs in feeling emotion from the rest of us.
“Senator Clinton truly is unique. Though we have not yet figured out how our findings play into her ability to perform as a president or politician, we are sure that she at least stands out from the rest of the crowd in one way - emotions won’t get in the way of her duty. Robots don’t feel emotions.”
The doctor chuckles before continuing “Or at least we think they don’t.”
POSTED BY BEN BOULDER 12:34:43 NEW YORK, NY
Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, Clinton, Elections, 2008 elections, democrat, research, democratic party, psychology
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