The Science of Smiling

When we are happy, our natural response is to smile. But if you flip that around, does the reverse hold true? When we smile, is our natural response then to be happy? Science says yes. In fact, even faking or forcing a smile reduces stress and makes you happier. That's what psychological scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman found when they conducted a clever study to test this connection. The researchers had their participants put chopsticks in their mouths to produce one of three facial expressions: a neutral expression, a standard smile (a "half" smile that stays located by the mouth), or a Duchenne smile (a big one, ear to ear). Only half of the 169 total participants were instructed to smile. Then the participants were asked to do a series of stressful, multi-tasking activities (such as tracing a star with their non-dominant hand by looking at a reflection of the star in a mirror). The researchers monitored the heart rates and self-reported stress levels of the subjects while they completed the tasks. The results showed that the people who were instructed to smile had lower heart rate levels and less stress after the activities, and this was especially true for those with the biggest Duchenne smiles. But even those who weren't told to smile, yet had their mouths forced into a smile by the chopsticks, came out of the tasks feeling more content and less stressed than the neutral expression subjects. Based on the findings, Sarah Pressman (one of the researchers...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news