Why Smiles are Contagious
Name
Institution
Why Smiles are Contagious
Introduction
People feel comfortable when those around them smile, and the reason why this happens is simple; a smiling face can be trusted. It is the reason why others smile with you either consciously or unconsciously without the “why” of the action. Maybe, it is the stimulating effect of a smile on the central nervous system or its communication of the assurance that everything would be okay. Maybe it is not because there is no reason to smile back at someone we do not like but we still do it regardless. So a smile is the same as a communicable infection that s transmitted from one person to another, weakens the defense system of the recipient, and make it do whatever it wants without restrictions. While this comparison might sound outrageous, it shows the strength of the irresistible power of a smile. A smile is contagious because it is one of the forms of facial expressions that are used to create the emotional response that reassures others that everything is going to be okay when the situation appears otherwise. Also, it is the
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Once we know that meaning of the smile given to us by others, we stimulate the parts of our brain that helps us mimic the expression and initiate physiological processes that make us feel better. This process also explains why that soft giggle or beam from an infant is what we need at that moment to regain lost hope or congratulate ourselves for an excellent performance. Finally, whatever it is that we are going through in our lives, the smile from others would not only make us better but show us how to make others feel the same experience without saying a word. It is the simple reason why a smile is
Behavior and experience are both contagious and are contingent upon the surroundings one resides in. This is evident after reading Watter’s essay on The Mega Marketing of Depression in Japan as well as after reading Gladwell’s essay on The Power of Context. Both of these works illustrate how behavior and experience could be amended. Specifically, how behavior and experience are contagious through the use of applying specific methods like the Broken Windows Theory, the Law of a Few, Stickiness Factor, and Mega Marketing in order to alter peoples behaviors and experiences.
Body language is a very important factor in the communication process, the psychologists started studying this language at the late centuries because it forms a big part of understanding the verbal words; by this way we can explore another people’s real feelings ,meanings and thoughts, It’s also help us to understand ourselves. It is known as “kinesics” pronounced like ”kineesicks”. This kind of language dose not consist a words or alphabets, it is consists of hand movement, facial expression and eye movement.
This book is about so many things, it is hard to stay on one topic for any length of time. In order to focus on the laugh and laughing as a healing agent, I would like to look towards other influential writers and thinkers to tie together laughing and healing. First, let’s see what laughter is according to Meriam Webster: laughter- n. a cause of merriment. Using this simple definition, we can assume that laughter can come from any form of merriment or emotion like triumph, contempt, relief, and almost any other emotion there is. It is easy to picture in your head different underlying emotions in laughter; the sinister laughs of witches and ghosts, the insincere, fake laughs you hear after pointless, humorless attempts at jokes on the six o’clock news, to the silent laughs of mimes and clowns that fill the people around them with a happy feeling. These are all examples of what laughter is and how it is used. But why do we do it? What in nature created the laugh and made it so successful?
Laughter is a very complex process. We don’t ever think about it, but our bodies can use up to 80 muscles. Meanwhile, body structures and systems of the brain, such as the limbic system are hard at work also. Although it is a rather difficult method, whenever our body produces laughter, it helps us in more ways than just one. It can help us physically by releasing endorphins, lowering the chances of heart attacks, and even our immune system. It can help us both mentally and socially as well, building great relationships and by releasing stress. If the human race did not laugh, more and more people would die of things such as heart disease or even depression. Most people can agree, without laughter, our world would be a much darker place. It’d definitely be an unhealthy society.
In the journal article When Familiarity Breeds Accuracy: Cultural Exposure and Facial Emotion Recognition by Hillary Anger Elfenbein and Nalini Ambady, they discuss an experiment where photographs of American and Chinese individuals showing different kind of facial expressions that outline their current state of emotion were presented to American and Chinese judges.
Ben is one of the main characters in the movie. It all started with the class going to a
Nettle, D. (2005). Happiness: The science behind your smile. (First ed., pp. 1-6). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Emotional contagion is having one person's emotions and related behaviors directly trigger similar emotions and behaviors in another person or group of people. This can be done through a two-step process of emotional mimicry and synchronization of one's expressions and by vocalizations and posture feedback and movements. When people unconsciously mirror a partner’s expressions, they come to feel these reflections of emotions as well. Emotional mimicry is one of the most highly adaptive behaviors. One can have muscle movements that mirror the expressions they see, including looking at an angry face that activates the corrugator muscle which activates frowning. Then there is also a happy face that contracts the zygomatic major which helps with
I received so much from talking or listening to people that I always try to have something to give in exchange. That connection is the closest thing I know from happiness.
There isn’t any evidence that pinpoints exactly where this saying came from but it was first noticed around the 1940’s. 1943 is the earliest reference from “The Big Herald:” “Now here’s something worth knowing. It’s a formula for smiling when you have your picture taken. It comes from former Ambassador Joseph E. Davies and is guaranteed to make you look pleasant no matter what you’re thinking.
Early Saturday morning, I am sitting at a Dunckin Doughnuts to do a study on nonverbal communication. The first thing I notice are the vibrant pink and orange colors used to decorate the coffee shop. This makes me feel like this is a family friendly environment and all is welcome. I can only assume by looking around, I am not the only one that feels this way, the place is filled of families with small children, and people young and old. The next thing I notice are the uniforms the employees are wearing. Everyone is wearing a white shirt and black pants. However the supervisor is wearing a button up shirt while the employees have a brown apron over theirs. Although the uniform for employee versus supervisor are different, I do not notice a difference in the work being done. The supervisor is working alongside the employees. For me, this says a lot about the supervisor and how she leads
Spoken language is just one aspect of communication- the nonverbal conversations that happen are just as important, if not more so, in understanding what’s happening around us. Depending on the culture that a person is raised in, they will have different associations to various nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions, hand symbols, and head movements. Without grasping the different meanings, it is impossible to completely know what is happening in the conversation, therefore leading to a misunderstanding, which in turn leads to frustration. When one doesn’t know what a person means, they are bound to become aggravated. A time in my life when this related to me was when I traveled to California compared to when I visited Hawai’i. In California, smiling at strangers wasn’t too common, other than at commercialized places. In Hawai’i, however, the people were very friendly and welcoming. When a person didn’t smile back in Hawai’i, they seemed a little uptight, whereas in California, not smiling was the norm. Even though I was within the U.S. both times, the culture varied with
The face communicates emotions and how intensely they are felt. This can be used to manage expression, give feedback, and can vary by culture. An example of management, would be to give a blank expression in order to hide what you are feeling. An example of facial communication varying by culture is an Italian looking very angry when displeased but a Chinese person could be much more expressionless about
Not many people in the world today express happiness, we always hear about the bad and despair in the world around us. I try to stay happy and positive as much as I can, because I think happiness can be spread through the littlest things in life. In a world today where all you hear about is the bad going on around you, having something to hold onto and give you hope can change the outlook of that situation. I try to live all of my days by being positive and happy,
Research has shown that the smile is constantly rated as the number one thing that makes other people feel emotionally better. It has also found that smiling can be as stimulating as getting up to 16,000 Pounds Sterling (about 23,700 USD). [Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/03/22/the-untapped-power-of-smiling/] When you see someone smile, you smile. When you smile, your brain gets the messages of happiness and feel good chemicals are released. So, make smiling an important part of your routine on how to make someone