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
Laughing is resorted to in times where we need to laugh. It’s an escape from reality, its comfort, its fear. Laughing subdues any emotion that is too high strung in our system. It lets it vapor out in a melancholy form that helps us cope with problems that no one else can really understand and help us with. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest it allowed emotional tension escape from the patients and made nurse Ratched lose her ward.
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 unique movements of the face and body that are expressed due to amusement and sometimes contempt or derision. (Websters) But do we not need more than that? Do we not deserve to know more? Of course. Although laughter is something that we don’t ever really think about doing, it still requires a lot of our brain, lungs, and muscles. Laughing’s medical definition is a psycho-physiological reflex, a successive, rhythmic, spasmodic expiration with open glottis and vibration of the vocal chords often accompanied by a baring of teeth and facial grimaces. (Nieder, 2014). It simply means that no matter what happens, we can’t control laughter. It’s an involuntary impulse. In fact, it’s a negatively charged electrical impulse traveling through the cerebral cortex. However, I want to know more. What muscles produce the huge smile? What creates the wonderful sound of laughter?
The greatest gift that a person could ever receive is a smile. “Everybody in the world is seeking happiness… Happiness doesn’t depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.” Some say that a smile is a window to your soul, and the reality is a smile can change your mood even if you fake one. Like the psychologist and philosopher William James says, “Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together.” Even when there are struggles a smile can change your mood and reduce the pain. Like Carnegie implies, “You must have a good time meeting people if you expect them to have a good time meeting you.” This is very important because you can not expect people to happy around you when you sit with a frown in your face. A smile is a wonderful gift because it cost nothing and brightens anybodies day.
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.
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
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
Laughter is an essential human phenomenon. Smiling in response to pleasant physical conditions occurs in early development, usually in the first month of life. As a motor reflex, laughter is usually present by the time a child is 4 months old. By the age of eighteen months, a child smiles once every six minutes, and by four years of age, the rate increases to one smile every one and one-third minutes. The ratio of laughs to smiles increases from one laugh to every ten smiles as eighteen months to one every three smile at four years. The individual differences in the rate of both laughing and smiling become greater as the children grow older. (Stearns, 1972) The instinctual development of smiling and laughing occurs very early in life, suggesting a high level of importance.
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
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
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,