It does not matter if they show the same expression: familiar faces seem happier than those that are not. This is indicated by a team of researchers from the American universities of Columbia and California, in San Diego, in a work published in the journal Psychological Science . In it they warn that we not only prefer things that sound familiar to us , but that we actually notice them in a different way.
” Our brain likes things that are familiar to it, ” says psychologist Piotr Winkielman, from the aforementioned Californian institution, who has also participated in this initiative. “These tend to be safer. In other words, if I see something a second time, it has not devoured me yet. Also, they are easier for us to process. However, the most remarkable thing is that this positive reaction towards it family ends up becoming a kind of objective evaluation of how good something is. This phenomenon makes, for example, an observer ends up convinced that the face of a politician that sounds more friendly, or that a song or a product it’s better than the competition, “says Winkielman.
To determine this, the scientists showed a group of volunteers a series of faces of men and women that showed different expressions. Most pointed out that he was more familiar with those who seemed the happiest . The results of this test supported those obtained in another, in which the participants showed an inclination to indicate that familiar faces were more smiling to them , although in reality they had a neutral expression.
