A smile allows the happiness that a person is feeling to shine from within, and brightens the entire face. It instantly puts a person in a good mood and is infectious to everyone around them. It offers a mood boost.
Smiling releases endorphins, natural painkillers, and serotonin, three neurotransmitters that make us feel good from head to toe. These natural chemicals elevate our mood, relax our body and reduce physical pain. Consider smiling a natural drug. It can reduce blood pressure and increase endurance. The more you smile, the happier and more relaxed you get. Surprisingly, this also works when faking a smile or laugh, as the brain can't differentiate between real or fake smiles. Smiling has the power to change your mood and the moods of others. Humans are hardwired to mimic the expressions of others. So it is scientifically proven that smiles are contagious! A genuine smile shared with another person can make someone else smile, feel better about themselves, and feel better about their situation — even if it's just for a moment! Smiling also affects how others see us, because people will typically associate smiling with positive emotions like happiness or contentment.
Although smiles are generally taken as signs of contentment, humans actually smile for many different reasons. Sometimes we do smile simply because we are happy, but we also smile for social reasons and to put people at ease, as well as to show more complex emotions, such as nervousness or being uncomfortable.
Watch for eye movements: Real smiles cause the eyes to move. It is fake if the rest of the person's face stays still while they are smiling. Watch for bottom teeth: When a person has a genuine smile, they are less likely to expose the bottom row of teeth. A fake smile is more likely to include both rows of teeth. We all have pictures of young children with that toothy fake smile – but at the same time, it makes us smile and laugh – so it still has achieved its purpose.
Smiles in Russia are personal and intimate, exchanged only between family and friends. So if you smile at strangers in Russia, you might make them feel uncomfortable or suspicious about your intentions (or intelligence).
The French don't tend to smile at people they don't know, or smile continuously in interactions, and might feel awkward about reciprocating the gesture. You might be thinking you're being extra friendly to make them feel at ease, while they might be thinking “is this person OK/ are they in pain?”
In Japan, smiling is a way to show respect or to hide what you're actually feeling. Although, in Japanese culture, nonverbal expressions use the eyes more than the mouth. This makes it easier for the Japanese to determine if a smile is genuine or fake. Japanese people tend to shy away from overt displays of emotion, and rarely smile or frown with their mouths, Yuki explained, because the Japanese culture tends to emphasize conformity, humbleness and emotional suppression, traits that are thought to promote better relationships.
Chinese smile for more reasons than Americans. A smile can mean the person is embarrassed, trying to be helpful, curious, happy or friendly. In the middle of an argument, smiling means that the speaker doesn't want this to become personal. When all else fails, smile in China.
The results were that some countries thought you were less intelligent if you smiled, such as Russia, Japan and Iran... while some thought you were less honest, like Argentina, Zimbabwe, Iran and Russia. The researcher concluded that this “indicates that corruption at the societal level may weaken the meaning of an evolutionary signal such as smiling.”
But…we are in the United States! Smile and have a wonderful day! 😊
