Benefits of Smiling

Physiological Benefits of Smiling

Smiling, like laughter, can be contagious.

Smiling, laughing and generally adopting a positive attitude seem, anecdotally, to make people feel better. The exact physiological effects of smiling, however, are less clear. There is some evidence to suggest that smiling may have a few positive health effects, but there is still little evidence, and a lot of unknowns, in regard to the physiological effects of smiling.

Real and Fake Smiles

1. • One important thing to keep in mind when looking in to the physiological benefits of smiling is that there are real smiles and fake smiles, and only one is claimed to have physiological benefits. The real smiles are also known as Duchenne smiles, and are easy to spot and difficult to fake. The Duchenne smile is characterized by the muscles around the eyes being activated, as well as the muscles of the mouth. This results in squinted eyes, and what are known as crow's feet wrinkles.

   Anxiety and Depression

   • One of the clearer physiological health benefits of smiling is that it has a positive effect on anxiety and depression, both of which are at least partially the result of neurochemical imbalances. Smiling by itself will not cure either anxiety or depression, but there is evidence that it has an effect on mood and to positively affects emotions, according to University of California researcher Dale Jorgenson. Thus, it could be an effective therapy in combination with other, more proven methods of dealing with anxiety and depression.
   • Blood Pressure
   • Another of the claims in regard to the physiological benefits of smiling is that it helps to lower blood pressure. There is, however, little actual evidence to support these claims, which likely originate from studies on the physiological benefits of laughter. Smiling is a prerequisite of laughter, after all, and studies by Japanese researchers have demonstrated a link between laughter and lower blood pressure. Laughter and smiling are not the same thing, however, so it is uncertain that smiling has the same physiological benefits as laughter.

   Life Span

   • There is also evidence to suggest that one of the physiological benefits of an intense smile is a longer life span. Ernest L. Abel and Michael L. Kruger of Wayne State University found that a more intense smile had a statistically significant effect on a person's average life span. This suggests that the difference between smiles that use only the mouth, and Duchenne smiles, which use both the mouth and eye muscles, may be significant.