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Apr 9, 2013 · Ever wonder what happens to our brain when we're smiling or see a smile? Here's some research on how we can use the power of a smile more effectively.
Apr 10, 2017 · Of 19 different types of smile, only six occur when we’re having a good time. The rest happen when we’re in pain, embarrassed, uncomfortable, horrified or even miserable.
- Smiling Helps You Live Longer. Perhaps the most compelling reason to smile is that it may lengthen your overall lifespan. One study found that genuine, intense smiling is associated with longer life.
- Smiling Relieves Stress. Stress can permeate our entire being, including showing up in your face and expression. Smiling not only helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and overwhelmed, but it can actually help decrease stress.
- Smiling Elevates Mood. Smiling can also help make you feel happy. Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. There's a good chance your mood will change for the better.
- Smiling Is Contagious. How many times have you heard that a smile has the power to light up the room? While it is certainly a beautiful sentiment, it carries a hint of truth.
Smiling is a social signal which, usually, communicates to others our positive emotion and intent. When we feel good or we’re pleased to see someone, this emotion plays out in our facial expression. This sounds very jolly, but in some contexts smiles can also convey fear or submissiveness.
- Smiling can make you look younger. Even if there were no other benefits to smiling, I’m sure many of us would be grateful just for this one. The UMKC researchers tested the popular theory that smiling might cause others to perceive you as being younger than you actually are.
- Smiling can make you look thinner. In a recent study by a young psychology student at UMKC, sad faces randomized and flashed on a computer screen were judged to be heftier.
- Smiling elevates your mood and creates a sense of well-being. As behavioral psychologist Sarah Stevenson writes in this post, “Each time you smile you throw a little feel-good party in your brain.”
- Smiling induces more pleasure in the brain more than chocolate. I know you don’t believe this. I don’t believe it either. But according to Ron Gutman, the author of Smile: The Astonishing Powers of a Simple Act, “British researchers found that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate.”
Sep 23, 2015 · The science of smiling: What happens to our brain when we smile. Let’s say you experience a positive situation and you see a friend you haven’t met in a long time. This means that neuronal...
Jun 6, 2023 · Key Points: Smiling has significant psychological, neurological, and health benefits, including increasing dopamine, serotonin, and endorphin levels, reducing stress, improving mood, and enhancing overall well-being.
