The Psychological Study Of Smiling

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A smile is one of the most used facial expressions in the world today, and it is no surprise, considering the many reasons people have for smiling and the physical, mental, and emotional benefits it comes with.

A smile is a pleasant facial expression that involves flexing the muscles around your mouth and contracting those at the side of your eyes. In some cases, it involves showing some amount of teeth. It is a widespread belief that the best-looking smile is one that reveals a portion of your teeth. This is why oral health experts, like dentist Dr. Rivera, believe that the whitest teeth give the brightest smiles and boost confidence.

Several myths have been associated with smiling alongside different philosophies, superstitions, and fiction. While some of these descriptions are correct, others are not so accurate. The truth, however, is that a smile is a powerful tool that often affects both the carrier and anybody they come in contact with. This article will summarize some facts about smiling and the need to smile more often. So, please read on to learn more about your smile.

Benefits Of Smiling

There are many benefits associated with smiling and putting on simple smile positions you to enjoy these benefits. Here are some of the most significant benefits of smiling.

  • Smiling regularly helps to reduce blood pressure
  • Smiling during any task can help increase your endurance levels and give you an extra push.
  • Smiling helps your brain stay positive, which in turn helps to reduce stress.
  • Helps portray a competent and confident version of you.
  • It also helps your immune system and makes you feel less pain.

What Are Some Facts About Smiling?

  1. Smiling Is Contagious: If you pay close attention, you will notice that some emotions, expressions, actions are contagious and transmitted among the people around. A typical example is smiling, which experts have classified as yawning. A yawn can either be spontaneous or contagious. While the former occurs naturally, the latter is often provoked when you witness another individual yawning. A smile is pretty much the same and can be triggered by witnessing another individual smile. The saying “A smile can light up a room” makes more sense if you consider this characteristic of smiling and its effect on the people around.
  2. Smiling Can Trigger Genuine Happiness: This may seem like a long reach, but it is accurate and has been proved on many occasions. Smiling regularly can trick the brain into believing that it is genuinely happy, and here’s how. Your brain always receives a signal when you smile, and your brain may not filter natural smiles from fake ones when you keep smiling regularly. At this point, your brain will be tricked into believing that you are happy for real, and this often tends to trigger an actual feeling of happiness within you.
  3. Smiling Can Help Improve Your Health: The science of psychoneuroimmunology which studies the relationship between the brain and the immune system, reveals that Your feelings can affect your immune system. According to this study, sadness, mainly characterized by a frown, can deplete your immune system and significantly weaken it. But smiling, on the other hand, smiling signifies a feeling of happiness, and this feeling helps boost the immune system and increase its potency in fighting against diseases and infections.
  4. Smiling Helps You Look Younger: This is no brainier. Smiling regularly means that you frown less, significantly affecting how quickly you age. Frowning weakens the facial muscles and makes them sag quickly, speeding up the aging process. But smiling has been figured to help train the cheek muscles and other muscles around the mouth. Hence, preventing them from sagging quicker or prematurely.
  5. Smiling Helps You Socialize More: Smiling naturally makes you more attractive and approachable, which can be a basis for relating better with people. But if you keep frowning, people around you will find it difficult to approach or communicate with you. You may also find it very hard to fit in among people in any gathering if you always have a frowning face, but having s smile on puts you in an advantaged position.

Bottom Line

A smile is a very commonly used expression, and it is often an enjoyable one. Although smiles can also be faked and presented to conceal other emotions, there is no denying the effect of genuine smiles. What’s more? A good smile characterizes a healthy oral system and general health. This article has studied some facts about the act of smiling from a psychological perspective.