Thursday, March 4, 2010

When Is a Smile Really a Smile?

By DANIEL GOLEMAN
Published: October 26, 1993

As smiles are beginning to come under precise study, researchers report that not just any happy face will actually make the smiler feel happy. A polite smile, a smile of feigned enjoyment or a grin-and-bear-it grimace will not give the physiological lift that accompanies a genuine grin.

The truly happy smile, new research suggests, can be described quite precisely in terms of the two main muscles involved, ...

A version of this article appeared in print on October 26, 1993, on page C11 of the New York edition. The online article omits a photo by Michael Kausman, captioned, "Dr. Paul Ekman of the University [of] California at San Francisco demonstrating a smile using only the muscles around his mouth, and a full smile in which the eye muscles participate." The online article is entitled: One Smile (Only One) Can Lift A Mood.

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