Smile

conscious or subconscious facial muscular movement conveying mirth or pleasure

A smile is a face made by flexing the muscles near both ends of the mouth.[1] The smile can also be made through the eyes (See 'Duchenne smile' below). Smiles usually express happiness. A smile can be natural or fake. However, smiling can be different with animals. When smiling, the teeth shows, but sometimes animals do this when they are threatening. When chimpanzees show their teeth, it can also be a sign of fear.

The most famous smile in art: the Mona Lisa: subtle and ambiguous
An extreme smile: mouth wide open with teeth showing; perhaps a laugh or happy shriek

Dimples change

 
A man smiling
 
Girl smiling

Dimples are genetically inherited.[2] They are caused by the flesh underneath the skin, that forms on some people's cheeks, especially when they smile. Some people may only have one dimple on only one side of the face.

Duchenne smile change

Although there are many different types of smiles, researchers are interested in the duchenne smile because it is done with the eyes. The Duchenne smile was named after the French physician Guillaume Duchenne. Duchenne identified two types of smiles. A Duchenne smile is when the cheek raises and forms a wrinkle around the eyes.[3] Many researchers think that Duchenne smiles are usually hard to make when you are pretending to smile.[4]

Internet change

On the Internet, smiles can normally be typed up. This is normally called a smiley, smiley face, or happy face. Smileys show emotion when people are not able to see it in real life. Smileys typed on the computer are called emoticons. Smileys can change depending on where the person typing the smiley is.

Western Style: :-), :-(, ;-), :-O, :-D, (;D)

Eastern Style: d(^.^)b, \(^o^)/, >.<, ^_^, *<):)

Related pages change

References change

  1. Freitas-Magalhães A. & Castro E. 2009. The neuropsychophysiological construction of the human smile. In A. Freitas-Magalhães (ed) Emotional expression: the brain and the face. 1-18 Porto: University Fernando Pessoa Press. ISBN 978-989-643-034-4
  2. "Singapore Science Centre: ScienceNet|Life Sciences|Genetics/ Reproduction". Archived from the original on 2003-09-25. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  3. Duchenne, Guillaume 1990. The mechanism of human facial expression. New York: Cambridge University Press. (Original published 1862)
  4. Ekman P., Friesen W.V. and O'Sullivan M. 1988. Smiles when lying. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 54 414–420

More reading change

  • Conniff, R. (2007). What's behind a smile? Smithsonian Magazine, 38,46-53.
  • Ottenheimer, H.J. (2006). The anthropology of language: An introduction to linguistic anthropology. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworh.
  • Ekman, P., Davidson, R.J., & Friesen, W.V. (1990). The Duchenne smile: emotional expression and brain psysiology II. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 342-353.
  • Russell and Fernandez-Dols eds. 1997. The psychology of facial expression. Cambridge. ISBN 0521587964.
  • Messinger D. & Fogel A. 2007. The interactive development of social smiling. In Robert Kail (ed) Advances in child development and behavior, 35, 327-366. Oxford: Elsevier. Retrieved 25 June 2010 from [1]

Other websites change