We all know that when we feel good it is usual to show it with a smile. But does it also work the other way around? That is, can a smile increase our well-being? Researchers at the University of Kansas (USA) have studied the benefits of different types ofsmileson health and have concluded that this facial gesturehelps us feel better after stressful episodes.
Smiles are classified into two types:standard smile, which involves only the muscles around the mouth, andDuchenne or genuine smile, which also causes the muscles around the eyes to contract. In experiments with 169 college students, Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman analyzed the physiological and psychological effects of a neutral facial expression and of both types of smiles. To do this, after the subjects performed stressful multitasking activities, they were asked to try to change the gesture of their face towards a smiling face and measured their heart rate and their feeling of stress. The results revealed thatsmiling influences physical well-beingas the Duchenne smile managed to slow down the subjects’ heartbeat after being subjected to much more stress than a standard smile. The neutral countenance had no positive effect.
The authors of the study, which is published in the specialized journalPsychological Science, they suggest thatslaughing while undergoing certain stressorscanreduce the intensity of the body’s responseregardless of whether or not the person feels “happy.” For example, a smile during a traffic jam can save us a hard time by “helping us to better deal with the situation from a psychological point of view and to keep our hearts healthier,” says Kraft.
