Psychologists have researched the fact that how much people smile in old photographs can predict their later success in marriage.
In one test, the researchers looked at people’s college yearbook photos and rated their smile intensity from 1 to 10. None of the people who fell within the top 10 per cent of smile strength had divorced, while within the bottom 10 per cent of smilers, almost one in four had had a marriage that ended, the researchers said. (This scoring was calculated on the stretch in two muscles: one that pulls up on the mouth, and one that creates wrinkles around the eyes.)
In a second trial, the research team asked people over age 65 to provide photos from their childhood (the average age in the pictures was 10 years old). The researchers scored each person’s smile and found that only 11 per cent of the biggest smilers had been divorced, while 31 per cent of the frowners had experienced a broken marriage. So yes, it is true, there is a story behind that smile of yours.
“When you’re smiling, when you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you.”
I bring to you the compilation of various researchers to give you the list of the benefits of smiling.
The 9 Superpowers of Your Smile
New research adds more benefits of smiling to a long and happy list.
1. Smiling can make you look younger. Even if there were no other benefits to smiling, I am sure many of us would be grateful just for this one. The UMKC researchers tested the popular theory that smiling might cause others to perceive you as being younger than you are. Sure enough, in a small study, college students perceived older people who had happy smiles on their faces as looking younger than their age. The people with frowns on their faces were categorized as looking oldes
Point to note: A smile provides you with a mini facelift. Turning up the corners of your mouth raises your entire face, including cheeks, jowls, and neck. Try it now! Instead of spending $15,000 or more on a facelift, just smile.
2. Smiling can make you look thinner. In a recent study by a young psychology student at UMKC, sad faces randomized and flashed on a computer screen were judged to be heftier. This is a surprising conclusion; I can only speculate that a mouth turned down in a frown might give the impression that a person is weighed
down by unhappiness.