Smiles Aren’t Just For The Cameras
Jenny Galvao
It turns out that having a smile on your face can lead to being perceived as more attractive. According to research carried out by Jessika Golle of the University of Bern and associates, a happier facial expression can cause people to perceive you as more attractive, even if you aren’t extremely good looking to begin with.
Happier people display their happiness physically and this also signals openness and excitement leading to higher levels of perceived approachability. All together, this contributes to the overall perception of attractiveness.
“We found that faces that were manipulated to be less attractive but smiling were preferred to faces that were manipulated to be more attractive but less smiling” and “thus, our results suggest that smiling can compensate for relative unattractiveness,” say the researchers.
So, what makes a pretty face? It’s clear that a radiant smile can make a huge impact.
In these two experiments, participants were exposed to pairs of adult faces with manipulated attractiveness or emotional expressions. For each gender, 10 attractive and 10 unattractive faces with a neutral face were shown (using some facial manipulation). Participants then chose either the more attractive or the happier face.
The results were conclusive in showing that for both male and female faces the intensity of a smile had a large influence on the perceived attractiveness. Also, this study found that smiling can, in most cases, compensate for unattractiveness, as the faces that were less attractive but more smiling, were viewed as more attractive than the faces that were more attractive but less smiling.
The researchers provide an explanation; “The finding may be caused by the rewarding value of happy faces — the emotional expression might influence the emotional state of the observer, and thus may modulate the attraction to the person.”
So, even if you don’t have the best looking face in the crowd, don’t feel as though your chances of appearing attractive are slim. Merely applying a smile to your face will help increase your level of attractiveness without even adding any extra time to your morning routine.
A smile says so much about you; showing other people that you’re content with life, and that you’re a fun and welcoming. Smiling is the easiest way to turn you into the best looking person in the room no matter what your company.
About the Author: Jenny Galvao is an undergraduate student at the University of Guelph studying psychology.
Resources
Golle, Jessika; Fred W.; Mast and Janek S. Lobmaier. Something to Smile About: The Interrelationship Between Attractiveness and Emotional Expression. Cognition and Emotion, 2019. 28:2: 298-310. DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2019.817383.