The Benefits of the Human Smile - Coursework Example

THE BENEFITS OF THE HUMAN SMILE PSYCHOLOGY 41 11.57am SATURDAY 03 MAY 2008 J.M ELIAS M.A., P.P.S Smiling is a natural drug. This drug affects the hormones which release endorphins and serotonin into the body and mind which create a sense of good feeling; this feeling then creates positivity and confidence. Not only is this emotion personal, but when smiling it creates a knock on effect towards others thus spreading an almost contagious sense of happiness. There are many reasons and benefits to smiling. Firstly, smiling makes the face attractive; there are two main areas of the face that change when smiling. The eyes lift and sparkle and the mouth turns up making the face appear softer and happier. Even saying the word ‘smile’ sounds nice and encourages the mouth to form an attractive shape. As well as making ourselves attractive, smiling attracts reactions from other people. Smiling at someone generally encourages them to return the smile, it also makes them interested as to why that person is smiling at them, this can persuade them to engage in conversation, therefore a new friend is made or a relationship is started. A frown or an unhappy look pushes people away, however a smile draws them in, generating a more approachable and positive aura. Smiling is good for your health, a widely known fact is that smiling uses less muscles in the face than frowning does, this helps to reduce stress, both physically and in the facial appearance, a smile makes the face look less tired, therefore creating a younger appearance. Smiling also effects blood pressure, this decreases which is a positive factor for your health, it also boosts your immune system, possibly because you are more relaxed. (Stibich, 2008) Smiling can sometimes lead to laughter and laughter is the best medicine. Smiling is a friendly gesture and gives an impression of warmth and welcome; when meeting someone for the first time, the first pleasantry is usually a smile. However sometimes a smile can be fake but that does not mean to say that an insincere smile is a bad smile. Having a photograph taken, more often than not, requires a smile; as the smile is requested at a given moment and is not spontaneous, it is classed as fake. Just for fun I took a BBC UK online test as to how a fake and genuine smile is determined. I scored 19 correct out of 20! (BBC, 2008) Smiling isnt something we learn in the way that we learn to read and write (just look at how a baby smiles and laughs), it is pre-programmed behavior with which we are born. (BUPA, 2003-2007) It is hard not to react in a positive manner to someone who is smiling at you; their happy and friendly gesture somehow rubs off on you, making you reciprocate a smile in return. A smile is a simple action, it does not require money, neither does it require training. It is a natural, in built behavior requiring only a simple moment to activate and reach out towards others. Try smiling today, see how many different reactions you obtain from other people. Some will smile back, some may think you are mad, however, you will most definitely influence at least one person with your smile and more than likely, that effect will be a positive effect. Besides, at the end of your day of smiling, you will look younger, feel better and live longer! If when you smile at someone and they ask you why you are smiling, tell them about this essay. It will, no doubt make them smile, this smile may reach another person, and then another; perhaps by smiling at someone today, the whole world may be smiling by tomorrow. EXPERIMENT To assist in my study of smiling I have chosen to experiement with a group of 18 people. Within this group, I have categorized them into 3 sub groups. Each group is made up of 6 individuals. 1. Birth – 15 years 2. 16 years - 40 years 3. 41 years – 75 years I have not disclosed what I am doing. I have just smiled. Below are the results. Birth to 15 years Lucy (a neighbor’s daughter, 6 months) – Lucy looked vacantly at me for about 20 seconds but I found the more I looked at her and made eye contact with her, she gave in and smiled back. Her gummy smile made me smile more which then turned into laughter. Lucy was a little shocked at first to hear the laughter but she was soon laughing too. Georgia (a schoolchild, 10 years) – Georgia smiled back immediately. Her smile seemed genuine and although she asked why I was smiling at her, she continued to smile when I told her the reason. Reece (a friend’s son, 3 years) – Reece did not return my smile. I laughed because he would not reciprocate but this then made Reece sulk because I was laughing at him. Alex (a stranger, 14 years) – Alex walked by and I smiled at him. He did not smile back, however when I looked back at him he looked back at me. He did smile then. I shouted him to come back and when I explained what I was doing he laughed. Jodi (a stranger, 6 years) – Jodi was shopping with her Mum and when I smiled she showed me her doll and told me her name was Pickle. Paul (a friend’s son, 10 years) – Paul was playing on his Playstation when I smiled at him, he smiled but his smile was insincere, I think he was perhaps more interested in shooting a monster in the game. 16 years – 40 years Nicole (a stranger, 22 years) – Nicole smiled back at me and giggled nervously. This made me laugh, Nicole then laughed back. Because Nicole had no idea what I was doing, her giggling soon developed into belly laughter. We both ended up laughing a lot. Christopher (a stranger, 32 years) – I think Christopher thought I was flirting with him. When I smiled, he smiled back but instantly looked at my lips. Bev (a stranger, 39 years) – Bev smiled back and commented on how nice the weather was. We were soon in conversation about holidays. We also laughed about getting sunburnt. Hayley (a colleague, 18 years) – Hayley was making a cup of coffee in the works kitchen. I entered the room and smiled at her, she smiled back and then asked me if I wanted her to make me a cup of coffee. Kyle (a stranger, 29 years) – Kyle was sitting on a bench outside a shop and I smiled at sat by the side of him. No further reaction. I asked Kyle the time and smiled at him again, he told me the time but I think he thought I was abit strange. Shirley (a colleague, 40 years) – I smiled at Shirley and she smiled back at me. She complimented me on my dress and asked where I got it from. This made me feel nice. 41 years – 75 years Linda (a friends Mum, 53 years) – Linda smiled and gave me a hug. She also commented on the weather and how she was planning a holiday. The weather at the time we spoke was raining but the conversation was light and funny. Ray (a colleague, 46 years) – Ray smiled and told me a joke; “A little girl and her mother were out and about. Out of the blue, the girl asked her mother, "Mommy, How old are you?” The mother responded, "Honey, women dont talk about their age. Youll learn this as you get older." The girl then asked, "Mommy, how much do you weigh?" Her mother responded again, "Thats another thing women dont talk about. Youll learn this, too, as you grow up." The girl, still wanting to know about her mother, then fired off another question, "Mommy, why did you and Daddy get a divorce?" The mother, a little annoyed by the questions, responded, "Honey, that is a subject that hurts me very much, and I dont want to talk about it now." The little girl, frustrated, sulked until she was dropped off at a friends house to play. She consulted with her girlfriend about her and her mothers conversation. The girlfriend said, "All you have to do is sneak a look at your mothers drivers license. Its just a like a report card from school. It tells you everything." Later, the little girl and her mother were out and about again. The little girl started off with, "Mommy, Mommy, I know how old you are. I know how old you are. Youre 32 years old." The mother was very shocked. She asked, "Sweetheart, how do you know that?" The little girl shrugged and said, "I just know. And I know how much you weigh. You weigh 130 pounds." "Where did you learn that?" The little girl said, "I just know. And I know why you and Daddy got a divorce. You got an F in sex." Frank (a nursing home resident, 73 years) – Frank was blind so I had to move close to him for him to feel my face. He asked why I was smiling at him and I asked him how he knew that I was smiling, he explained that he could feel my cheekbones were high and my mouth was lifted. Frank returned my smile. I felt quite emotional. Brenda (a nursing home resident, 68 years) – Brenda was reading but as I entered the room she looked up and saw me smile. She smiled back but obviously did not want to lose her place in her book. Her smile remained on her face as she was reading. Lesley (a stranger, 53 years) – Lesley was walking by and I smiled. He smiled back and tipped his hat to me. His smile was broad and made his face look jolly. Geoff (a stranger, 27 years) – Geoff was a builder working on a building site. I smiled at him and he whistled at me. This made me laugh and Geoff whistled again. MY PERSONAL FEELINGS THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS Whilst undergoing this experiment I felt very self conscious of my own smile. As I was sometimes approaching strangers I felt that they would see my smile as a fake smile. I tried to appear as genuine as possible and in some cases, especially with Lucy (6 months) I found it easy to smile as she was a baby. When Lucy smiled back at me, I felt a sense of warmth and a genuine desire to pick her up. When I laughed, Lucy looked a little worried and bewildered, this made me want to protect and apologize for making her feel this way. As soon as Lucy realized my laughing was a good thing, she was soon laughing herself and this caused me to feel the same warmth I had felt earlier. I felt good and I think Lucy did too. To continue with my experiment I approached the local school. After permission was granted I was escorted to the playground area where the children were having an afternoon break. The teacher shouted a little girl over, this was Georgia. The teacher knowing what my experiment was about asked Georgia to close her eyes; once her eyes were shut I started to smile. The teacher then asked Georgia to open her eyes. As soon as Georgia saw my smile she smiled back, her eyes looked all over my face, in particular at my mouth. She asked why I was smiling and saying nothing and the teacher explained what I was doing. Georgia found this amusing and although she remained smiling back at me, the explanation of my experiment made her laugh. Other children had gathered around to see what was happening and before, during and after the experiment I could hear a lot of laughter and I could see plenty of smiling faces. Some of the children wanted to have a go at the experiment. I indulged them and found that most of them ended up in fits of giggles. I came away from the school feeling happy and amused by their reactions. The teacher, Mrs. Handley, thanked me for sharing my experiment and informed me that the children would be doing a report on this later on in the day as part of their activity hour. I felt almost proud that I had created such a positive reaction and that the teacher felt it was important enough to include in the children’s learning. Reece’s reaction I felt was typical of a 3 year old. Reece is my friend’s son and he is usually quite friendly and amiable. However, he had been shopping with his Mum all day and was tired. This showed in his eyes and I knew that no matter how much I tried to placate him, he would not return the favor. I felt a little sad by his reaction, more so for the fact I could not cheer him up. My colleague, Ray is a naturally funny person and I perhaps knew that he would tell a joke after I had made contact with him. Ray has a smiley face and is always telling jokes. This creates a positive feeling I have towards him. Ray is very rarely off sick from work, maybe this is because he has such an optimistic approach to life. When I smiled at Christopher I felt he thought I was flirting with him, his eyes immediately dropped to my lips; he then licked his lips and his eyes moved back to look into my eyes. His eyes were sparkly and flirty and although I did not find Christopher attractive, I found myself blushing slightly. I felt more relaxed with the women in their 40’s, Bev and Shirley; both women were warm and struck up a conversation with me. They seemed to react to the smile more so than the other people. Some of the others just smiled back, some appeared to be unconscious of the fact someone was smiling at them, but these women were the first to engage in conversation and talked about pleasant things. Frank made me feel quite emotional because out of all the people, he could not see that I was smiling. In fact, because he was blind, he could not experience anyone smiling unless he felt their faces. It made me extremely aware and feel lucky that I had the ability to see and how smiling is perhaps taken for granted. Lesley seemed to behave in an appropriate manner, which I expected when I learnt his age and I suppose I felt the same towards Geoff. Both men reacted to my smile but in very different ways. Lesley was respectful and Geoff was not (in a joking manner). All the people, except one responded positively to my smile. I managed to at least spread a smile and make others feel good. This, in turn, made me feel good. Bibliography BBC. (2008). Spot the Fake Smile. Retrieved May 03, 2008, from BBC - Science and Nature - Body & Mind: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/ BUPA. (2003-2007). Smile. Retrieved May 03, 2008, from BUPA Health Insurance: http://www.bupa.com.hk/eng/tips/smile.asp Stibich, M. (2008). Longevity - Reasons to Smile. Retrieved May 03, 2008, from About.com: http://longevity.about.com/od/lifelongbeauty/tp/smiling.htm Read More