Smile! I mean it. Smile while you read this paragraph! Even though those forced smiles are able to be discriminated from natural, spontaneous smiles - and yes, both will influence others' perceptions of you - evidence suggests that you can act your way into a new way of feeling. Research participants demonstrated more positive experiences while holding a pencil between their teeth without touching their lips, such that they approximated smiling without awareness of the facial expression or the facial muscles being used (Soussignan, 2002).
Smiling feels good. Smiling is associated with helpful thoughts and positive feelings, but smiling has also been found to induce emotional contagion; those observing a smile will spontaneously mimic some of the emotional expression (Blairy, Herrera and Hess, 1999; Vrugt and Vet, 2009). Smiling increases cooperation, builds rapport, communicates altruism, and contributes to trust (Scharlemann, Eckel, Kaclnik and Wilson, 2001; Mehua, Grammerb and Dunbara, 2007). When you're smiling, the whole world smiles with you!
Now, try a little smiling game as you reread this article: Smile every time you read the very word, "smile." Find out just how quickly it might affect your mood, then go out and share it with the whole world! Smile!
Post Script - Mona Lisa seems to be smiling when in your periphery vision, but her lips appear to flatten out when you look at them directly.
Post Post Script - "Smile" is one of those words that sounds funnier and funnier the more you say it. Smile. Smiles. Smilessss. Smile. SmILE. SMile. Smile. sMILE. sMILEY. smilE. smile. Smile. SMILE.
Blairy, S., Herrera, P., & Hess, U. (1999). Mimicry and the judgement of emotional facial expressions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 23, 5-35.
Mehua, M., Grammerb K. and Dunbara, R.I.M. (2007). Smiles when sharing. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 415-422.
Scharlemann, J. P., Eckel, G. G., Kacelnik, A., & Wilson, R. K. (2001). The value of a smile: Game theory with a human face. Journal of Economic Psychology, 22, 617-640.
Soussignan, Robert. (2002). Duchenne smile, emotional experience, and autonomic reactivity: A test of the facial feedback hypothesis. Emotion, 2(1), 52-74.
Vrugt, Anneke and Vet, Carolijn. (2009). Effects of a Smile on Mood and Helping Behavior. Social Behavior and Personality; an international journal, 37(9), 1251-1257.
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