Mimicry, personality judgment, and more.
In a new study, the role of facial mimicry of emotions shows some clear benefits to a smiling face. By understanding the reasons that smiles are so positively received, your relationships will be happier too.
The expression, “smile and the world smiles with you” may seem a bit naïve at worst, or trite at best. Sure, a pleasant facial expression communicates a happy and cheerfulThink about the last time you were on a Face Time or video call. Someone at the other end was pushing your buttons, and you were frustrated and annoyed. Did you let those negative emotions leak out?
If so, maybe you noticed that people moved on in the conversation and stopped paying What if, instead of frowning, you put on a somewhat false front where you let the smile cover up your true feelings? If you’ve ever been in this situation, you may be able to attest to the fact that everything seemed to go more smoothly, and other people reflected your No one would deny that the expression of emotions contributes importantly to the way that people communicate.
But can the expression of positive emotions have some other effects you didn’t realize? New research says it just might. According to Humboldt University’s Michal Olszanowski and colleagues , people not only label emotions based on facial expression, but also draw conclusions about the personality of the person behind that facial expression. One significant but overlooked route to such inferences is through “concurrent affect processing,” or the way you feel when you look at someone else’s facial expression.
In previous research demonstrating this effect, when people were free to mimic another person’s smile in an experimental display, they felt the other person was genuinely happy. If they weren’t allowed to mimic the expression , they felt the displayed smiles were less authentic.
Mirroring another person’s facial expression, according to this research, allows you to feel thatAcross a series of studies, the Humboldt U. team tested the facial mimicry theory by having participants rate emotional expressions in faces in varying conditions and with varying emotions. The key question was whether being able to mimic a facial expression led participants to feel that the person they were copying was more trustworthy than if mimicry did not occur.
Secondly, the authors wondered whether the nature of the facial expression would matter; specifically, whether happy faces would be more readily mimicked than angry or sad ones. The procedure to test these ideas involved having participants rate the trustworthiness of a person whose face they saw, varying the emotion shown on the face . In one of the studies, participants believed they were playing a virtual “trust investment” game with someone whose face showed one of these emotions.
In this type of game, you choose either to keep or share the points you earn with the other player. Individuals who smiled during the game were more likely to be mimicked as well as more likely to be trusted. It was, as shown statistically, the mimicry that was most likely to enhance trust.
Thinking back on the expression of annoyance you might be tempted to make while in that video chat, the findings showed that this would not be a very good idea. Not only will people be unlikely to copy your facial expression, leaving you out there hanging on your own, but they will be less likely to trust you. As it turns out, even expressing sadness could backfire in these situations.
Their mimicking of your facial expression could lead them to be less likely to trust you, as well as question your honesty. Maybe they just form negative associations to the whole experience, and would just as soon not have much to do with you. You may always have figured that it’s better to smile than not to smile, even when you’re feeling irritated or sad. The Olszanowski et al. study now gives you a basis for this belief.
Key to the study’s results, though, is the idea that it’s the mimicry of your facial expression that fosters the favorable interpretations people make of your personality. By the same token, you might want to think twice about the conclusions you draw about other people’s qualities based on what is going on with their face. If people are more likely to mimic a smile, then when you see someone smiling, chances are you will too.
The problem occurs when you conclude that this is a person you can trust. Maybe this person has just learned how to cover up their true intention, luring you into false security. Before you hand over your trust to this person, do a little bit of fact-checking to see if this is warranted.
Other than avoiding the untrustworthy, the idea that a smile can help you be seen in a more positive light can help guide you to smoother relationships. True, there are times when you might be annoyed, but ask yourself whether the price in terms of the impression you convey is worth allowing your true feelings to show through.the process of impression formation is full of nuances.
Recognizing the role of emotion mimicry in this complex formula can help lead you to happier and more fulfilling relationships. Olszanowski, M., Tołopiło, A., & Hess, U. . Smile and the world smiles with you: Happiness mimicry shapes first impressions. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.
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