Body Language of Happiness And Joy
Cue: Happiness And Joy
Synonym(s): Joy, Happiness Facial Expression.
Description: Happiness is a combination of the happiness facial expression and associated happy body language.
The eyebrows are slightly raised forcing the eyelids to crinkle and show crows feet, eyes may sometimes narrow, the corners of the lips curl upward, the lips sometimes part to show upper teeth, cheeks puff up and bulge. See how a real smile is coupled with other body language in the cue cluster to produce happiness and joy.
In One Sentence: Happiness body language is a way the body shows other people that good things are going on inside a person’s mind, usually as a result of good things going on outside of their body.
How To Use it: Use joyful nonverbal expressions when you want others to see you in a positive light. Happiness is read by others as a sign of good health, prosperity and a good mental disposition. At times, healthy body language can be feigned in order to attract better quality partners, to make others jealous, or to hide insecurity. Some experts advocate faking positive body language as they believe that the body has a powerful influence over the mind (and vice versa). Therefore, moving the body is more joyful ways can sometimes produce desire emotional results. A joyful expression is also frequently contagious and copied in others. This gives the initiator of the happiness message a positive halo effect.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “I’m so happy my face is opening up to the whole world and my eyes are crinkling and smiling too. My teeth are bared as my mouth opens with joy.”
Variant: See Artificial Smile or Fake Smile to compare a real simile to a fake one as well as the Honest Smile or Duchenne Smile.
Cue In Action: You just knew she wasn’t faking it, her body was vibrating with joy and happiness, her face was beaming, her body was open and flowing.
Meaning and/or Motivation: Happiness is motivated by internal hormones, buffered and released by, external stimuli to create a body that is open, flowing, and beaming.
Happiness means that good things are happening to a person or that they are making good things happen to them. At times, negative things do happen, but a person who resists being negatively affected by them, shows a positive rather than pessimistic affect and one who is able to work through hardship. This is the exact opposite to those who view life pessimistically that look for the negative in all situations and expect good outcomes to be only temporary.
Cue Cluster: Watch for open body language such as arms and legs uncrossed, tension to be erased from the face, the eyes will twinkle, laugh lines appear in the corner of the eyes, cheeks raise and the teeth expose,
Body Language Category: Amplifier, Appease, Childlike playfulness, Emotional body language, Open body language, Open facial gestures.
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