![]() ![]() This means that when faking a smile, we often mimic the mouth shape but are unable to recreate the same eye shape and cheek lift that occurs in a real smile. In particular the cheek and eye muscles, which are very difficult to consciously control. The difference between a genuine smile and a fake smile is noticeable even for those that believe they have a convincing fake smile says Eric Jaff, author of A Curious Madness. As adults, we are able to differentiate a genuine smile from a fake smile to choose social partners who are more cooperative and trustworthy than those we distrust with toothy grin. They have discovered that a smile conveys who is going to be nice to them. Research conducted on toddlers found that children as young as 3 years old are able to decipher the difference between a fake and real smile. How is it that only now are we realizing that we’ve been doing it wrong the whole time? Just how easy is it to spot a fake smile? I’m sure you remember being taught how to say “CHEESE” as a child to make you smile. Since the dawn of the Kodak moment we’ve flashed fake smiles on demand to make ourselves appear happier in photos. Now this has more to do with the fact that paintings and photos took quite a bit longer than the milliseconds they do today and holding a smile for 3 hours has been proven to make you go slightly crazy. Think back to those fuzzy portraits from the 1800’s you saw in history class, or nearly every Presidential photo until the mid-1970’s and you’ll see neutral faces and perfectly horizontal lips. ![]() Can you spot a fake smile? According to psychologist Richard Wiseman, nearly 60% of adults know the difference so why do we keep it up? The Origin of the Smile in Photos That’s because we give ourselves, and our phony smiles, more credit than they deserve. With camera phones never more than an arm’s reach away we, have been forced to perfect the fake smile… or have we?įorced smiles, although common, do not portray the successful, joyous, superstar we hope they do. Smiling is considered the universal factor for happiness. No one wants to be known as the guy that never smiles, so sometimes we fake it. When was the last time you flashed someone a fake smile? Probably not too long ago. Is it the end of the road for “Fake it ‘till you make it”? ![]()
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