Does Smiling Really Make People Happier?

I’m not a very smile-y person, and lately I’ve noticed that when I do smile, my face sometimes feels like I haven’t smiled in a loooong time.

I’ve been trying to remember to smile more. Facial expressions don’t merely reflect emotions, they also influence emotions. In “facial feedback,” studies show, the mere act of smiling makes people happier — even when they’re asked not to “smile” but rather to contract specific facial muscles.

Random smiling is an example of my resolution to Act the way I want to feel: while people suppose that feelings inspire actions, in fact, actions also inspire feelings. So by acting happier, I should feel happier. And you know, I think I do. “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,” Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

Also, because of emotional contagion, people often mimic the faces of people they see. One reasons that people are attracted to happy people is that they “catch” that happiness, themselves.

One note about smiling — from the comments to the three-part Tigger vs. Eeyore discussion, I get the impression that some Tiggers make a habit of telling people “Smile!” — and that many Eeyores find this habit intrusive and deeply annoying. So it appears more effective to let others “catch” your smile rather than telling them to smile. “But they’d be happier if they’d smile!” you may protest. Maybe, but the Eeyores report that being told to smile doesn’t make them feel like smiling. Just the opposite.

Do you find that you can boost your happiness by smiling or through other similar measures? What works for you?

To read more along these lines, check out Happier at Home, chapter five.

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(Photo: Shemp65, Flickr)

Anna Kochetkova

Good Social Media For Impactful Not For Profits ???, Author, Poetess, Bi+ Activist

11 年

"People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who don’t. When you’re happy, your body pumps out all kinds of feel-good endorphins which is great to feel. People mimicking different emotional expressions force their bodies to produce physiological changes that affect physical changes such as heart and breathing rate." https://annablogia.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/three-happy-secrets-revealed/

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Claudia Cartagena

Urban Development Technologist at City of Calgary

11 年

I love this article. Smiling is a good daily excercise

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Marie (Jingjing) Sun

General Manager-Frese Valves (Ningbo) Co., Ltd at Frese A/S

11 年

A smiling boss could keep a positive and high spirit force which helping the growth of the company.

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