Our smile is revealing!

Forcing a smile from ear to ear – we do it all sometimes to hide something or deceive someone. Very “never explain, never complain” isn’t it?  But hey, does that show that there is a lack of conviction or sincerity from our side? Sébastien Bohler, researcher in cognitive psychology and a doctor in neurobiology, helps us find answers lying behind every smile. Good to know before we articulate our “cheese”.

A true smile is in the heart as well as on the lips:

False. In  1862, the physiologist Duchenne noticed a genuine smile involves not only the zygomatic muscles and the corners of the mouth, but also the orbicular muscles (around the corner of the eye). So a more accurate expression would be ‘a true smile is in the eyes as well as the lips’. An intuition confirmed by three researchers who filmed women while watching sad movies. Conclusion: Observe the eyes of the person who smile to see his level of sincerity because we can not control our orbicular muscles. If they squint, this is a good sign … Bonus: the “crow’s feet” prove “a happy temperament” says Sébastien Bohler.

A bright smile is … too good to be true:

True. Four researchers filmed women while they asked them to smile on command. Result: when you force it, you tend to smile a lot faster and the smile reaches higher on the corners of the mouth, i.e. it “jumps” more mechanically. They also fall faster than a genuine smile. Another team has also shown that we tend to have more confidence in a job interview with person whose smile is less striking and instantaneous, but more progressive. And more authentic.

An ego-centric person never smiles:

Neither true nor false. Two researchers established – via a questionnaire – the overall level of altruism of their subjects, and have allotted a sum of money to be divided between them and a person of their choice, before they started filming. Result: the less altruistic and more generous ones smiled less often and their their orbicular muscles moved less, if at all. And interestingly, they tend to smile on one side of the mouth (the right)! Since the right hemisphere of the brain (the seat of our emotions) controls the left side of the face, both corners of the mouth should be raised … if you are sincere. “Otherwise, notes Sébastien Bohler, only the right corner moves, which is under control of our concious will.”

Dominating people are always smiling:

It all depends on their sex. Women with domineering personalities smile less, perhaps because they are not trying to be conciliatory and are facing the power balance. This is what was found by three researchers who put two groups to role play. Men were also smiling in both dominant and dominated roles, but women who wanted to be “dominating” smiled half as much!

Isabelle Song