Neither Ohio GOP Sen. JD Vance nor Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has the national stature of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, so viewers had a chance to judge these two relatively unknown politicians for the first time, side by side, in a relatively uncontrolled setting on Oct. 1, 2024.
A lot of the post-debate analysis has centered on the candidates’ responses to questions on abortion and immigration, as well as other contentious issues like Trump’s and Vance’s refusal to recognize President Joe Biden’s 2020 win as legitimate.
But I didn’t listen too closely to what Vance and Walz said. Instead, I focused on their gestures, blinks and smiles. That’s because for over two decades I’ve researched the nonverbal behavior of political figures.
My research has long centered on the Swiss Army knife of facial behaviors: the smile. A smile isn’t just a sign of being happy. There are countless types of smiles, each of which has a distinct social purpose.
At their core, smiles are emotionally contagious – used as a sign to reassure others that we mean no harm and want to cooperate.
The types of smiles that politicians tend to display can give us insights into their personalities. Former President Ronald Reagan, who was known as the “Happy Warrior,” had a smile that was highly contagious and reassuring to both followers and opponents alike.
However, smiles can also be deployed as a form of self-regulation. And they can signal dominance, confidence and contempt.
Walz tries to shake off his nerves
At the outset, it was obvious that Walz was stressed on the debate stage.
After Walz shook Vance’s hand ahead of the debate, Walz stood, waiting, and then flashed what’s called an “affiliative smile.” This involved pulling up his lip corners quickly before the smile vanished. This type of smile is usually under the control of the individual and is posed to indicate the intent to cooperate.
Walz then broke out into a reward smile, with a relaxed jaw, his teeth showing, and the muscles around his eyes contracted. Smiling in this manner during stressful moments can be used to lessen negative emotions while increasing positive ones – and it appears that this form of self-regulation was Walz’s goal.
Vance pleased with himself
While Vance was much less expressive than Walz, he did appear to show a slight smile after he attempted to bait Walz into defending the specifics of the 2023 Minnesota Reproductive Freedom Defense Act. Among other things, this law protects out-of-state patients traveling to Minnesota to get an abortion from criminal penalties and legal attacks.
Vance’s smile occurred just as viewers went to commercial break. Perhaps Vance was pleased with how he performed on an issue that has dogged his ticket – and was just grateful to be moving on.