How long does a genuine smile last

Not everyone is able to do this, but a substantial minority of people can. Another study found that ten-pin bowlers tended not to smile when they scored a strike, only when they turned to look at fellow bowlers. This all fits with a new idea that challenges the whole idea of what facial expressions are for. Some psychologists believe they are not reliable guides to our emotions at all, but tools that we use to manipulate others.

In this view, a smile is not genuine or fake, at all. Look at the contraction of the muscles around his eyes. That only happens with smiles that reflect true, happy emotions. To demonstrate this, Duchenne electrically stimulated the risorius muscles of his tooth-less friend.

There are creases on his cheeks but not around his eyes. The orbicularis oculi muscles are not contracted. The skin around the eyes is not pulled in tightly as it is in the first picture. That is the mark of a fake smile. The differences in muscle contraction in genuine versus fake smiles illustrate the separation between the habit and the non-habit systems in the brain. When a smile comes naturally to us, one set of muscles is activated.

When we use our conscious powers to feign a smile, we alter the pattern of muscle activation, and people around us can tell. One more example. Recently, I noticed a colleague in the hall of the hospital where I work who was visibly distracted by his smart phone as he walked. How are you? With his mind preoccupied by his phone, the doctor replied out of habit. When I asked him about the incident later, he had no recollection of the unfitting remark.

Paul Ekman is a well-known psychologist and co-discoverer of micro expressions. He was named one of the most influential people in the world by TIME magazine in He has worked with many government agencies, domestic and abroad. Ekman has compiled over 50 years of his research to create comprehensive training tools to read the hidden emotions of those around you.

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