Does this picture make you happy? That is because smiles are rewarding, and often contagious. However, studies have never really specified whether or not fake smiles play into the reward center of the brain, and new research explains that not all smiles make us feel the same.
Dr. Erin Heerey, of Bangor University in the UK, states that genuine smiles have a "unique social value." Thus, people will respond differently (and quicker!) to a genuine smile than they will to a fake one.said psychological scientist and lead researcher Dr. Erin Heerey of Bangor University (UK).
This research, which is now in the journal of Psychological Science, also suggests that even though no two interactions are alike, people still use smiles as social cues and respond to them differently depending on the type of smile. Polite smiles, for example, which may or may not be genuine, most generally occur when smiling is socially necessary, or expected. Since these smiles are less rewarding, Heerey hypothesized that people should be less likely to anticipate fake/polite smiles.
Genuine smiles signify pleasure, and occur in a split second. They also look different, as certain eye muscles are engaged that are different from muscles engaged during a fake smile.
In an observational study with pairs of strangers, when they were getting to know one another, would match the type of smile to one another, whether genuine or polite. However, the response rate was much quicker when a genuine smile occurred, suggesting that the participants were actually anticipating these types of smiles.
Researchers are indicating that genuine smiles thus promote positive social interactions, which is why there are differences in response rates. People are more likely to anticipate when there is more of a reward, and learning to anticipate is a crucial skill in social interaction.
This study was particularly amazing as it allowed for both naturalistic as well as controlled observation, promoting a richer and more developed way to examine relationships. This type of approach may be helpful over time in researching developmental delays or disorders such as Autism, anxiety, and schizophrenia, where social interactions prove much more difficult to learn, and are sometimes nonexistent.
Source: Association for Psychological Science
