What term describes the act of attempting to remove any emotional expression?

• A. Neutralize
• B. Paralanguage
• C. Mimicry
• D. Nonverbal Sensitivity

Answer: (A)

Neutralizing is the act of removing any emotional expression from your face or body. In social interactions, people use this to appear calm, impartial, or in control, even when they feel something else inside. That’s exactly what the prompt is asking for: a strategy aimed at erasing visible emotion.

Paralanguage refers to vocal cues like tone, pitch, and tempo—how something is said rather than what is expressed on the face. Mimicry is copying someone else’s expressions to match or connect with them, not about concealing one’s own feelings. Nonverbal sensitivity is the ability to detect others’ emotions from their nonverbal cues, not a way to regulate one’s own expression. Neutralizing best fits the idea of trying to remove emotional signals.