ScienceDaily: 'Grey skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face'

“"There's no doubt that the world's been struggling amid the current pandemic. While individuals naturally respond differently to adverse situations, it's encouraging to think that we can sway our emotions by simply putting on a happy face," Dr Marmolejo-Ramos says.

"The concept of being able to influence our emotions by simply moving our facial muscles has long been debated by researchers, but until now, no test or theory has been globally agreed upon. "In this study, we assembled a team of skeptics and a team of believers (called the 'Many Smiles Collaboration') to test a mutually agreed methodology, and what we found was reliable evidence that the physical formation of a smile can produce feelings of happiness."

The study tested three well-known techniques:

1) mimicking facial expressions of actors seen in photos;

2) moving the corners of their mouths to their cheeks using only their facial muscles; and

3) using the 'pen-in-mouth' technique which moves the facial muscles in a simulated smile shape.

"Two out of three of these conditions generated noticeable increases in happiness, providing a compelling argument that human emotions are linked to muscle movements," Dr Marmolejo-Ramos says.

"But as the pen-in-mouth technique didn't achieve the same mood changes (possibly because the simulated mouth shape wasn't as representative of a smile as we thought) we can't say with absolute certainty that one always causes the other. "Still, the evidence is strong, and knowing that we can somewhat 'fake it 'til we make it', is definitely a reassuring proposal.""`

Some Insights From This Article

• Perhaps “fake it ‘til we make it’” is a saying with merit as this article shows that just the facial motion of smiling can induce positive emotions within our mind. As we smile when we are happy this article has shown that perhaps smiling in itself can make us happy as well.

• It’s definitely hard to stay conscious and smile all the time especially when we’re in busy situations such as work/commutes, but if we can make a habit of smiling often perhaps we can help our happiness as well.

• Personally, I’m a bit skeptical of the immediate impacts of smiling *I’m smiling right now and I don’t feel immediate happiness* but perhaps it’s a long-term consequence that needs to be practiced before any tangible results are seen.

What do you think of this article?

Full article is here!

#Happiness #Smile #Emotions