8 surprising benefits of smiling
A study from the University of Kansas found that cracking a smile – even when you don’t feel like it – reduces the intensity of the body’s stress response, regardless of whether a person actually feels happy. So whether you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, had a tiff with a loved one or spent hours waiting in a line at the bank, it can be arduous to turn that frown upside down when you're feeling less than cheerful.
However, you’ll be interested to hear that by choosing to smile, happy changes start to occur automatically, both internally and externally. Here are the top (and sometimes surprising) reasons why it’s definitely worthwhile grinning from ear to ear.
Reduces stress
In a 2012 study published in the journal Psychological Science, University of Kansas psychological scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman studied 170 participants who were told to hold chopsticks in their mouths in three formations, making them smile to various degrees without realizing it, after performing a stressful task. The experiment revealed that subjects who smiled the biggest with the chopsticks experienced a substantial reduction in heart rate and quicker stress recovery compared to those whose expressions remained neutral.
Mood boosting
Our facial expressions have the ability to influence our mood. While emotions may originate in the brain, the muscles in the face either reinforce or transform those feelings. Recent studies have revealed that through the enhancement of positive emotions – or the suppression of negative ones – with facial expressions, a person’s mood begins to align more strongly with the emotion his or her face is communicating.
Fake it till you make it
Some researchers have found that a forced smile can still make you feel happy, even when your existing mood suggests otherwise. It only takes smiling for a brief period of time to experience its benefits – no matter how contrived it feels initially.
You become more approachable
A 2004 Penn State University study found that authentic smiles shared by employees in the service industry influenced their impressions on customers in a positive way. Smiling employees came across as more likable and friendly, and customers left the interactions feeling more satisfied about their overall experience. While job performance and the busyness of the venues were also factored into subsequent experiments, the researchers found that the added display of an authentic smile helped workers appear more competent as well.
You’ll seem more trustworthy
From a psychological perspective, a person who is smiling appears more trustworthy than a person who is either frowning or holding a neutral expression. In a University of Pittsburgh study, researchers explored the potential connection between a model’s level of attractiveness, the intensity of her smile and her perceived level of trustworthiness. Study participants ranked 45 models on these three conditions, revealing that the bigger the models smiled, the more trustworthy they seemed.
Retrains your way of thinking
While the brain is naturally inclined to think in negative terms as a defense mechanism, the habitual act of smiling helps the mind move to a more positive space and remain there longer the more you do it. According to Shawn Achor, the author of The Happiness Advantage, by making smiling a part of our everyday practice, we help our brains create happiness loops that encourage more positive-thinking patterns.
It’s contagious
According to neuroscientist, Marco Iacoboni, we all posses something called mirror neurons, cells in the premotor cortex and inferior parietal cortex that are activated when we perform a given action as well as when we witness someone else performing it. And when it comes to smiling, mirror neurons respond to the acts of both seeing and doing.
Can strengthen the body on a cellular level
Just as smiling helps rid the body of stress, smiling can release tension on a cellular level as well, according to biochemist and artist Sondra Barrett. In her book, Secrets of Your Cells, Barrett explains how cells can distinguish between safety and danger, find and repair problems and create an overall sense of balance within the body. She also highlights how a person’s thoughts have a direct effect on cell function. When we smile, we reduce the rigidness of our cells, and this physical relaxation can help combat the risk of stress-induced cell mutations that can lead to the development or persistence of various cancers.
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