Placing a photograph of our children or nephews smiling with mouths full on the refrigerator door can help us eat healthier , according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research .
Specifically, scientists have shown that seeing a smiling face not only improves mood, but also makes us feel good enough to "work harder for future well-being, think more flexibly and be open-minded to new information" explains Aparna A. Labroo, a researcher at the University of Chicago (USA) and co-author of the study. His experiments also reveal that when we are in a good mood we are more able to distance ourselves from the problems we must solve , think more abstractly, and make better decisions. We are also capable of setting (and achieving) long-term goals, and short-term goals cost us less effort than when we feel moody.
