Why Smile? Well, not everyone cares about looking younger and thinner. But even those who don’t may care that appearing younger and thinner affects how they are perceived and, hence, their satisfaction and success in work and life.
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Studies Show…
ChatGPT just gave me some references on these appearance effects:
Bae, S., Kim, K. J., & Im, J. (2021). Does Babyface work in the workplace? Effects of babyface, competence, and warmth on recruitment decisions. Journal of Business Research, 122, 591-600.
Ng, H. W., & Loughnan, S. (2020). The role of body weight in organizational hiring decisions: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(12), 1395-1417.
Swami, V., Horne, G., Furnham, A., & Tovee, M. J. (2021). Associations between physical attractiveness, body mass index, and facial adiposity with sociosexuality and relationship status in an online sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 168, 110382.
Chatterjee, A., & Basu, S. (2020). Effect of weight loss on facial attractiveness: A randomized controlled trial. Indian Journal of Dermatology, 65(2), 87–91.
There is also a finding from the University of Missouri-Kansas City that people are judged younger and thinner if they are smiling. Now, this study is not new. The post I found on it dates back to 2016.
The only reason I even found it at this time is because it was referenced in this post that came across my desk, a post that you absolutely have to see! It’s a fabulous reel, which I am not even going to try to describe. Must be seen with your own eyes and smile. 😉
And for a little more meat on the subject, here below are some excerpts from my earlier post on the power of smile:
Smiles That Work
The 3 techniques studied were:
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.
The first two showed significant happiness upticks, as evidence for the age-old argument that, yes, there can be a connection between our faces and our moods. And other people’s well-being too!
What Else Smiles Do
It is not just that a smile can improve our mood. Back in 2016, I wrote about a study on how our facial expressions can dramatically affect our lives:
“Attractive people are often perceived as more intelligent, but we wanted to investigate how individuals can change their perceived intelligence, regardless of their attractiveness. The solution seems to lie in subtle differences in a resting facial expression that are related to sleep – namely eyelid droopiness and subtle frowning.”
We need to keep an eye on our sleep and our face, for our mind and body. Solara Mental Health posted that: “From living a better and longer life to appearing more approachable and confident, from reducing the risk of certain serious diseases to releasing hormones that help decrease stress levels, the benefits of smiling are plentiful.”
But these authors also point out that my face doesn’t only affect me. There are many studies to show that smiling is contagious. If I smile at you, you are more likely to smile too—meaning that my face affects your well being too.
So, what would life be like if every time we felt beaten down by whatever-it-is, we pulled out a 5 second smile, first thing, before we try to figure out what if anything else needs to be done.
Practice, Practice, Practice—and let us know what you find. And to talk about this or something else, Contact Me at weissmadelaine@gmail.com
Warmly,
Madelaine
Photo by Pexels Pixabay
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