THE PHENOMENON OF CONTAGIOUS SMILING
What is a smile and is smiling contagious? A smile is a facial expression formed by flexing those muscles most notably near both ends of the mouth (Wikipedia). Essentially, “a smile is a curve that sets everything straight,” (Dyer 2011). People of all ages smile for numerous reasons. The most common reason for smiling is to display the emotion of happiness. However, sometimes people smile just to be friendly or polite and sometimes they may smile as a sign that they think they recognize or know you. Regardless of race, age, gender or the specific reason, at one time or another everybody smiles. The question of the day is: Is smiling contagious? Surprisingly, the answer is YES!
“You only need to flash a smile at someone to raise a smile in them” (Dyer 2011). According to Dyer, smiling is actually good for us. Smiling makes us feel better by reducing blood pressure. Smiling also minimalizes stress and produces and releases specific hormones into our brain, such as serotonin, dopamine and endorphins which also makes us feel good (Dyer 2011). Observation and research combined have convinced scientists and spiritual leaders to agree that a simple smile can “transform the world around you.” (Hatfield, Cacioppo, Rapson, Clark 1992) A Swedish study showed that when subjected to pictures of various emotionally filled facial expressions, a “conscious” effort was necessary by the participant to not imitate the facial expression in picture shown (Sonnby–Borgström, 2002). This study proved to be true with numerous different facial expressions showing emotion. The Swedish study included the emotions of fear, sadness, excitement and happiness. Surprisingly all of the emotions seemed to be contagious. When passed in a natural setting, people are less likely to smile if they do not encounter someone smiling at them. The display of facial expressions is controlled by the cingulate cortex, which is an unconscious automatic response area located within the human brain (O’Doherty
“You only need to flash a smile at someone to raise a smile in them” (Dyer 2011). According to Dyer, smiling is actually good for us. Smiling makes us feel better by reducing blood pressure. Smiling also minimalizes stress and produces and releases specific hormones into our brain, such as serotonin, dopamine and endorphins which also makes us feel good (Dyer 2011). Observation and research combined have convinced scientists and spiritual leaders to agree that a simple smile can “transform the world around you.” (Hatfield, Cacioppo, Rapson, Clark 1992) A Swedish study showed that when subjected to pictures of various emotionally filled facial expressions, a “conscious” effort was necessary by the participant to not imitate the facial expression in picture shown (Sonnby–Borgström, 2002). This study proved to be true with numerous different facial expressions showing emotion. The Swedish study included the emotions of fear, sadness, excitement and happiness. Surprisingly all of the emotions seemed to be contagious. When passed in a natural setting, people are less likely to smile if they do not encounter someone smiling at them. The display of facial expressions is controlled by the cingulate cortex, which is an unconscious automatic response area located within the human brain (O’Doherty