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Showing posts with label smiling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smiling. Show all posts

Smiling for Your Health

I did a long interview recently on smiling for Shape Magazine that will come out in a few months.
I did research on smiling when I wrote my book, "Success Signals," and more research as the National Spokesperson for the Natural Dentist products, Yes, I know about a ridiculous amount of research on smiling. 
In this cold and flu season, I advise you to start smiling and don't stop till spring. Smiling can help you fight off a cold and boosts the immune system.  While smiling, your body relaxes and so your immune system reacts more quickly and effectively against invaders. The Department of Clinical Immunology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine found that, when smiling, the serum cortisol levels (stress level) decrease and, instead, the number of white blood cells and natural killer cells increases. So if you want to fight off a nasty cold in the future, forget going to the pharmacy, Just Smile!


Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

Smiling Makes You Live Longer - How Much Longer Do Smilers Live?

Smiling Makes You Live Longer –
How Much Longer Do Smilers Live?

Smiling Makes You Live Longer - How Much Longer Do Smilers Live?
I have done extensive research on smiling as the National Spokesperson for the Natural Dentist toothpaste and mouthwash.

Check out some of my articles on Smiling below:




People who frequently flash large smiles live an extra seven to ten years, on average, according to Wayne State University research in the journal Psychological Science. In the study they looked at 230 pictures of major league baseball players from 1952. They found that the biggest grinners lived to an average of 79.9 years, while their straight-faced peers reached just 72.9 years on average.

A study from London University College stated that happy, cheerful people are 35% more likely to live longer. Smiling lowers the heart rate and reduces blood pressure, while relaxing your body. Researchers from Wayne State University, Michigan.
Boosts the immune system - While smiling, your body relaxes and so your immune system reacts more quickly and effectively against invaders. The Department of Clinical Immunology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine found that, when smiling, the serum cortisol levels (stress level) decrease and, instead, the number of white blood cells and natural killer cells increases. So if you want to fight off a nasty cold in the future, forget going to the pharmacy. Just smile!


It’s a natural beauty enhancer
They say the best make-up a woman can wear is her smile. People who smile seem more approachable and, thus, more charming to the opposite sex. A study from 1985 examined how men approached women in bars: when a woman made eye-contact she was 20% approachable, while adding a smile made her 60% more accessible. It also makes you look an average of 3 years younger. The muscles we use to smile lift the face, making a person appear youthful. No more cosmetic surgeries for you.
It’s a natural pain killer
It has been proven that smiling is a natural drug. Researches from Oxford University found that it can act as a pain reliever, as it releases endorphins and serotonin. Also, chuckling helps increase pain threshold. You can get high on a smile.
It relieves stress
Is there a deadline right around the corner or house work catching up on you? Forget about it and smile. It’s the best way to reduce stress caused by an upsetting situation. Even if you don’t feel like it, forcing a smile is still enough to lift your mood. What happens is that it sends signals to your brain and tricks it into thinking you’re actually feeling good. Also, if you don’t smile you’ll feel bad afterwards. In one study people were asked to remain stony-faced after hearing someone else’s good news. They felt bad afterwards and thought the other person would think worse of them as a result. Turn that frown upside down and brighten up your day!
It’s contagious
If you want to make someone feel better make them smile. Or better yet, smile at them! Half of the people will send you one back. Researches at Uppsala University conducted a study where they had volunteers look at pictures of expressionless, happy or angry faces and in return adopt one of those expressions. When they had to meet a smile with a frown or the other way around they had trouble doing so. The twitching in their faces that was measured with electronic equipment showed that they had no control over their muscles. That’s why it’s hard to be sad when the people around you are laughing or happy when everyone is depressed.

It’s the way to success
Smiling can help you make more money and move up career wise. It makes you appear confident, professional and self-assured. Those who smile at their colleagues and customers are more likely to get promoted, be approached with business ideas or get a raise. Studies have shown that people who smile seem more trustworthy, are rated higher in generosity and extraversion. Don’t forget to take your smile with you everywhere you go!
Smile and the whole world will smile with you – now we really understand what they meant by that. Keep your smile with you so you can live a happy life. 

So put on a happy face every chance you get!



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Smiling and DISC Personality Styles


I just finished an interview for the Wall Street Journal.  One of the topics I discussed was my research on smiling and DISC personality styles. Here are the types and the smiles and below is the survey you can take to assess your smile and determine your DISC personality types.



I  did research for the Natural Dentist toothpaste on how your smile reflects your DISC personality type.


The survey with the key is on my book website SNAPFirstImpressions.com  and you can find it at the bottom of this document.

What is the Smile Analysis Survey? 

Have you ever looked at a stranger’s smile and immediately recognized something about their personality? Did you ever wonder what people think of you when you smile?

Are you curious to discover what the corners of your lips, the arch or your eyebrows, the lift of your cheeks, and other parts of your smile reveal about you? Would you like to gain insights into how you come across to others? Well, the Free smile personality analysis is a brief survey that will give you a fun snapshot of your personality!  

The Smile Analysis Survey is based on nonverbal communication and personality research. It is designed to be fun snapshot of your personality, no couches or inkblots are needed to apply!  

1. Which of the following best describes the physical aspects of your smile?

a. ___ I keep my mouth closed and my lips fairly tight and sometimes my mouth goes down at the corners.                 

b. ___When I smile my whole face moves, my mouth goes up at the corners, my cheeks go up and my

          eyes crinkle at the corners.

c. ___When I do smile it is larger than most peoples. 

d. ___When I smile my mouth goes up at the corners, but not to far.  

2. Which of the following best describes the way your smile comes and goes on your face?

a. ___It comes on slowly and is steady and stable.

b. ___It comes quickly and stays on my face a while. I almost have to focus to make it go away.

c. ___It comes on slowly and fades out slowly.

d. ___It’s here then it’s gone.  

3. Which of the following sets of words best describes how you see your smile?

a. ___Kind and Friendly

b. ___Confident and Powerful

c. ___Expressive and Spontaneous

d. ___Reserved and Diplomatic  

4. Which of the following scenarios most closely describes how feel and how you smile when you’re photographed with friends and family?                                          

a. ___ I enjoy the connection to others, so I would smile, but not typically a big smile.

b. ___ I don’t really like being photographed. Sometimes I smile, but not every time.

c. ___ I either smile largely or don’t smile at all.

d. ___ I typically have a good time & don’t mind being photographed, so I give an enthusiastic smile. 

5. Which of the following best describes your smile?

a. ___Animated and Lively

b. ___Warm and Polite

c. ___Discrete and Appropriate

d. ___Direct and Energetic  

6. Which one of the following best describes how often you smile? Please choose only one:

a. ___I smile all the time, people comment my smile 

b. ___I smile quickly, but I wouldn’t say I smile all the time

c. ___I’m not a big smiler, but I mean it when I do smile

d. ___I smile often, I like how it makes others feel  

7. If others view your smile as being like you, ideally they would say your smile is:

a. ___Gentle and Considerate

b. ___Sincere and Diplomatic

c. ___Decisive and Independent

d. ___Fun and Optimistic  

8. What is the most likely thing to make you smile?

a. ___When I accomplish a task quickly and effectively

b. ___When I do something correctly or solve a problem

c. ___When I do something well or I’m recognized for doing a good job

d. ___When I’m able to help others  

9. You would be most likely to smile as you say which of the following sentences:

a. ___I enjoy telling stories and entertaining people

b. ___I like working with people who get along

c. ___I know what I want and I go after it

d. ___There’s a right way to do things  

10. What do you think makes a great natural smile?
 
11. What do you think about a person who smiles frequently?

12. What’s one thing you would love to know about smiling?

Gender:  ___ Female or ___Male

Age:  ___under 25  ___25 to 40  ___40 to 55  ___55 and up



How to Score Your Survey 

Use the key below to tally up your answers and record them in the totals section also located below. To discover what your smile personality type is, see which smile personality type has the highest number and read the corresponding description, located under the key. Once you’ve discovered your smile personality type don’t forget to email your completed survey to Patti@PattiWood.net by the end of the week. The first 50 people that return the survey will receive Patti’s e-book on Stress Reduction.

KEY 

1. Which of the following best describes the physical aspects of your smile?

a. _A_ I keep my mouth closed and my lips fairly tight and sometimes my mouth goes down at the corners.                

b. _I_When I smile my whole face moves, my mouth goes up at the corners, my cheeks go up and my eyes crinkle at the corners.

c. _D_When I do smile it is larger than most peoples. 

d. _S_When I smile my mouth goes up at the corners, but not to far.  

2. Which of the following best describes the way your smile comes and goes on your face?

a. _S_It comes on slowly and is steady and stable.

b. _I_ It comes quickly and stays on my face a while. I almost have to focus to make it go away.

c. _A_It comes on slowly and fades out slowly.

d. _D  It’s here then it’s gone.  

3. Which of the following sets of words best describes how you see your smile?

a. _S  Kind and Friendly

b. _D Confident and Powerful

c. _I_ Expressive and Spontaneous

d. _A Reserved and Diplomatic  

4. Which of the following scenarios most closely describes how feel and how you smile when you’re photographed with friends and family?                                          

a. _S_ I enjoy the connection to others, so I would smile, but not typically a big smile.

b. _A_ I don’t really like being photographed. Sometimes I smile, but not every time.

c. _D_ I either smile largely or don’t smile at all.

d. _I_ I typically have a good time & don’t mind being photographed, so I give an enthusiastic smile. 

5. Which of the following best describes your smile?

a. _I_ Animated and Lively

b. _S_Warm and Polite

c. _A_Discrete and Appropriate

d. _D_Direct and Energetic  

6. Which one of the following best describes how often you smile? Please choose only one:

a. _I_  I smile all the time, people comment my smile 

b. _D_I smile quickly, but I wouldn’t say I smile all the time

c. _A_I’m not a big smiler, but I mean it when I do smile

d. _S_I smile often, I like how it makes others feel  

7. If others view your smile as being like you, ideally they would say your smile is:

a. _S_Gentle and Considerate

b. _A_Sincere and Diplomatic

c. _D_Decisive and Independent

d. _I_ Fun and Optimistic  

8. What is the most likely thing to make you smile?

a. _D_When I accomplish a task quickly and effectively

b. _A_When I do something correctly or solve a problem

c. _I_  When I do something well or I’m recognized for doing a good job

d. _S_ When I’m able to help others  

9. You would be most likely to smile as you say which of the following sentences:

a. _I_  I enjoy telling stories and entertaining people

b. _S_ I like working with people who get along

c. _D_ I know what I want and I go after it

d. _A_ There’s a right way to do things  

How to Score Your Survey 

Use the key above to tally up your answers and record them in the totals section below. To discover what your smile personality type is, see which smile personality type has the highest number and read the corresponding description, located under the totals. Once you’ve discovered your smile personality type don’t forget to email your completed survey to Patti@PattiWood.net by the end of the week.

Totals:   ___D-river  ___S-upporter  ___I-nfluencer  ___A-nalyzer

Smile Personality Type Descriptions

There are four distinct personality types. No one type is better or worse than any other type. Not everyone is purely one personality type some of us are a combination of types. Each type description is for someone who scores high on one particular type. If your scores were close on any of the types read the description for both types to see what characteristics best describe you. You may find that you are a mixture of types. If so, you enjoy having the benefits and talents of more than one personality type. 

Driver-- Your lifestyle is active and fast-paced. You are always on the go. You want to get things done. You do all sorts of things at the same time because you think, “Why do one thing when you can do three or four?” You enjoy solving problems, meeting challenges and competing. Your communication style is fast, direct, and to the point. You make decisions quickly. You are impatient with people who waste your time. You tell it like it is. You’re adventurous, bore easily and are willing to take risks. You can challenge the status quo and break the rules. You gain energy from being in charge and meeting new goals. You make direct eye contact and shake hands confidently. You set high standards for yourself and for others. You get things done. 

Supporter-- You are warm friendly and like a relaxed pace. People describe you as loyal, steady and dependable. Your relationships are the most important thing in your life. You are cooperative and a team player and you will work to avoid conflict and get along, even making personal sacrifices to do so. You speak slowly and thoughtfully. People say you are a good listener, though sometimes you feel interrupted by others. You don’t rush in, but instead, you look carefully before taking action. You are helpful, supportive and nurturing of others. You are the shoulder to cry on and the one who remembers birthdays.  A good day for you is when everyone gets along and you have helped others. You prefer working patiently, behind the scenes getting one thing done at a time.  You like to know what you are going to do every day.  

Influencer-- You are spontaneous and live life to the fullest. You are a leader and you want to be noticed and appreciated for your ideas and what you do. You are social and outgoing. You don't like to waste your time or energy on boring details or the same old routine tasks. You are boisterous, imaginative and playful. You love to share a good story or a bit of humor and you’re your animated voice and body language help you communicate well. You tend to ignore the rules since you don’t think they really apply to you. Your enthusiasm is contagious and you get the party going and the group motivated. You enjoy a good conversation whether it is on the phone, over dinner or out socializing.  A good day is when you brought out the best in someone else or when someone noticed your talent and work. You are optimistic, charming, a real people person. You want people to like you. You see the “big picture” and can inspire others.  

Analyzer-- You are smart, careful and accurate. You are a deep thinker who considers the details before you speak. You catch mistakes that others miss. You have great insights and opinions, but you don’t always get a chance to express them. You like to read books and other activities that make you think. You like to work by yourself and relax at home because you enjoy solitude. You like to take your time, play by the rules and wish others would do the same. You have a place for everything and that makes your life organized and easy. People may have a hard time reading your body language and knowing what your thinking or feeling because you like to keep your emotions to yourself. Others might consider you a serious person, but you do see and create humor in things that others might miss.  You want to be right and value being seen as accurate and logical. You have high standards and others may say you are a perfectionist. 

                                         Smile Style

Driver - who likes to get things done. When I do smile it is larger than most peoples.  It’s here then it’s gone.

Influencer – who likes to get appreciated. When I smile my whole face moves, my mouth goes up at the corners, my cheeks go up and my eyes crinkle at the corners. It comes quickly and stays on my face awhile. I almost have to focus to make it go away.

Supporter – who likes to get along. When I smile my mouth goes up at the corners, but not to far. It comes on slowly and is steady and stable.

Corrector – who like to get things right. I keep my mouth closed and my lips fairly tight and sometimes my mouth goes down at the corners. It comes on slowly and fades out slowly.


For more smile research and tools to improve your smile read, "SNAP Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma." 


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Why Men Look Angry and Women Look Happy


People are quicker to see anger on men's faces and happiness on women's. Is this research finding  a simple case of gender stereotyping, or something more deeply rooted? When I was conducting research on smiling my clients assumed that women always smiled more than men. Women do smile more than men, when they are in public. We like our women to smile that makes all of us men and women feel safe. There are more interesting insights in the following article by Beth Azar.

By Beth Azar
April 2007, Vol 38, No. 4
Print version: page 18

It might not be surprising that people find it easier to see men as angry and women as happy. Women do tend to be the nurturers and men--well--men do commit 80 to 90 percent of all violent crimes. More surprising, perhaps, is new research suggesting that the connection between men and anger and women and happiness goes deeper than these simple social stereotypes, regardless of how valid they are.

Our brains automatically link anger to men and happiness to women, even without the influence of gender stereotypes, indicate the findings of a series of experiments conducted by cognitive psychologist D. Vaughn Becker, PhD, of Arizona State University at the Polytechnic Campus, with colleagues Douglas T. Kenrick, PhD, Steven L. Neuberg, PhD, K.C. Blackwell and Dylan Smith, PhD. They even turned it around to show that people are more likely to think a face is masculine if it's making an angry expression and feminine if its expression is happy. In fact, their research, published in February's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 92, No. 2, pages 179-190), suggests that the cognitive processes that distinguish male and female may be co-mingled with those that distinguish anger from happiness, thereby leading to this perceptual bias.

Becker proposes that this bias may stem from our evolutionary past, when an angry man would have been one of the most dangerous characters around, and a nurturing, happy female might have been just the person to protect you from harm. Evolutionary psychologist Leda Cosmides, PhD, agrees.

"If it's more costly to make a mistake of not recognizing an angry man, you would expect the [perceptual] threshold to be set lower than for recognizing an angry female," says Cosmides, of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

More than a stereotype

Becker first noticed that people find it easier to detect anger on men and happiness on women a couple years ago while working on his dissertation at Arizona State. He was testing whether viewing an angry or happy expression "primes" people to more quickly identify a subsequent angry or happy expression. Becker confirmed his initial hypothesis, but when he ran an additional analysis to test whether the gender of the person making the facial expression affected his results, he found that gender was, by far, the biggest predictor of how quickly and accurately people identified facial expressions.

Becker couldn't find any mention of this gender effect in the literature. So he set out to confirm that people more quickly link men to anger and women to happiness and figure out why that might be.

In the first of a series of studies, 38 undergraduate participants viewed pictures of faces displaying prototypical angry and happy expressions. They pressed "A" or "H" on a computer keyboard to indicate whether the expression was angry or happy, and the researchers recorded their reaction times. As expected, participants were quicker to label male faces "angry" and female faces "happy."

The researchers then used a version of the "Implicit Association Test" to uncover unconscious biases that study participants may have linking men to anger and women to happiness. The well-documented test allows researchers to examine the strength of connections between categories, which lead to unconscious stereotypes. Becker tested whether study participants unconsciously linked male names with angry words and female names with happy words. Most did.

However, 13 students showed the opposite association (male-happy, female-angry), implying that their unconscious gender stereotypes run counter to those of the general public. It was an ideal opportunity to determine whether gender stereotypes are at the heart of the emotion/gender bias. They weren't: Just like the main group of participants, this subgroup more quickly and accurately categorized male faces as angry and female faces as happy.

"While gender stereotypes clearly influence perception, the implicit association test results made us think the effect is not solely a function of stereotypes," says Becker.

Overlapping signals

Since gender stereotypes don't seem to be the culprit, Becker looked toward more deeply rooted causes.

For example, perhaps we see more men with angry faces--on television, in movies--than we see women with angry faces, so our brains are well practiced at recognizing an angry expression on a man. To investigate this possibility, one of the co-authors, Arizona State University graduate student K.C. Blackwell, suggested they flip the experiment around. Instead of asking people to identify facial expressions while the experimenters manipulated gender, they asked them to identify whether a face was male or female while manipulating facial expressions.

"While you can argue that the majority of angry faces we see are male, it's tough to argue that the majority of male faces we see are angry," says Becker. So, if the relationship between emotional expression and gender is simply a matter of how frequently we see anger on men and happiness on women, the effect should disappear when researchers flip around the question. What they found, on the contrary, was that people were faster to identify angry faces as male and happy faces as female.

To follow-up on this finding, they conducted another study in which they used computer graphics software to control not only the intensity of facial expressions, but also the masculinity and femininity of the facial features, creating faces that were just slightly masculine or feminine. As predicted, people were more likely to see the more masculine faces as angrier, even when they had slightly happier expressions than the more feminine faces.

These findings suggest that the brain begins to associate emotions and gender very early in the cognitive process, says Becker. One possible explanation is that the brain has an "angry male detection module" enabling fast and accurate detection of what would have been one of the most dangerous entities in our evolutionary past. But Becker thinks there's a more parsimonious explanation.

"I'm more inclined to think that we've got a situation where the signals for facial expressions and those for masculinity and femininity have merged over time," he says.

In particular, features of masculinity --such as a heavy brow and angular face--somewhat overlap with the anger expression, and those of femininity--roundness and soft features--overlap with the happiness expression.

To test this hypothesis, Becker and his colleagues used computer animation software to individually manipulate masculine and feminine facial features of expressively neutral faces. As predicted, a heavier brow caused participants to see faces as both more masculine and more angry, implying that the mental processes for determining masculinity and anger may be intertwined.

"These results make a lot of sense," says University of Pittsburgh behavioral anthropologist and facial expression researcher Karen Schmidt, PhD. "Faces have always had gender, so if we're always activating gender and affect at the same time then the processing is likely highly coordinated."

The paper raises new and interesting questions about gender, says UCSB postdoctoral student Aaron Sell, PhD, who studies the evolution of gender. "Specifically," he says, "why do male and female faces differ, and what is the nature of emotion detection?"

The data appear to suggest that the anger expression has evolved to make a face seem more masculine, says Sell. Even female faces may communicate anger more effectively the more masculine they appear, says Becker. Future studies will have to tackle questions about the intentions expressed by the angry face and why looking more male would be an evolutionary advantage in communicating these intentions.

"I see this article as opening the book on a new research topic more than having the final say on the issue," says Sell.
Beth Azar is a writer in Portland, Ore.


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Guy Kawasaki’s latest book, “Enchantment” and Why You Should Shake Hands

I was reading Guy’s Kawasaki’s latest book, “Enchantment” on the plane back from a speech to Judges in Texas the other day. The book was filled with wonderful little tidbits. He says early in the book, in fact on page nine that “you need four things for a great first impression: your smile, your dress, your handshake and your vocabulary.” Yippee! for recognizing that handshakes are still important. You know how I feel about them. I just did a speech last week for a Financial Association. We discussed how important it was for them to shake hands to create rapport. They have to have the rapport or people are not going to share their financial information.

Here is a quote from my new book on first impressions

“The choices of where, when and with whom to give a handshake have changed over the last few years due to differences in culture and religious background, a more casual business culture and the maturing of the Purell germaphobic generation. Yet, handshaking remains an important ritual for you to understand, use with ease and use as a source of information as you work on your first impression and reading others. Recent studies in North America indicate that a firm handshake that shows strength and vigor with appropriate eye contact length and completeness of grip creates a favorable first impression. In fact, the handshake is the quickest, most effective way to establish rapport with another person.”

In the book “Enchantment” like many recent business books he mentions Paul Eckman’s facial expression research and on page 10 of the “Enchantment” is research that I quoted many years ago in my “Success Signals” book on smiling that I also mention under likability in my new book. It is nice to know that great minds think alike.



Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://pattiwood.net/. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

The Power Of A Smile, Research On Smiling And Risky Behavior

The Power of a Smile, Research on Smiling and Risky Behavior 
Research on Smiling and Risky Behavior
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227024.700-cheery-traders-may-encourage-risk-taking.html

Cheery traders may encourage risk taking 07 April 2009 by Peter Aldhous Magazine issue 2702. Subscribe and save for similar stories, visit The Human Brain Topic Guide

WAS it just greed that prompted the risky financial decisions that triggered global economic meltdown, or could other factors have been at work?
Before rushing to condemn the traders and bankers responsible, consider this: perhaps they were in too good a mood. That's the intriguing implication of experiments showing that even a fleeting exposure to a smiling face makes people more likely to make risky investment decisions.
At the Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting in San Francisco last week, graduate student Julie Hall of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor described experiments in which 12 male and 12 female volunteers played a game in which they repeatedly had to choose between investing in a "safe" bond and two much riskier stocks.
For every round of the game, the bond paid out $3. One of the stocks paid out $5 half of the time, while the other lost $5 at the...

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Why Black Women May Smile Less and Get Angry Instead

Why Black Women May Smile Less and Get Angry Instead

Patti, Christelyn Karazin here, the author of the book on interracial and intercultural relationships you spoke with a while back. Can you comment for, www.beyondblackwhite.com, regarding the issue of black women and why many just don't smile. Here's an article for reference: > http://www.theroot.com/views/single-minded-black-girls-puberty from Helena Andrews, author of Bitch Is the New Black.
Here are the rough notes from my response. Christenlyn. Fascinating
  • smiling is sign of appeasement,
  • people with lower status smile more often to get what they want,
  • Women smile more than men in social settings.
  • Men are often uncomfortable when a women who typically smiles in not smiling. (I believe men who say, "why aren't you smiling?' are concerned that a non-smiling women may be angry or trying to assert power if she is not smiling. Each time I taught my Women and Leadership workshops at the Wharton School of Business I would ask how many men have said, "Why aren't you smiling," to you and every woman would raise her hand.
Research also shows:
  • High Status seemingly "Powerful people" smile less, Male or Female
  • Men with more testosterone smile less and are quicker to respond with anger.
Here you have a fascinating and in some ways very sad, cultural and racial switch. So a women says, "I can't smile if I want to be powerful and accepted." to look tough and be accepted by my female peers “I need to sneer, and look like a bitch."
An angry face does get a different response than an appeasing smile. It can feel empowering. But at a great cost.
  • A smile actually changes your brain chemistry so you feel happier.
  • The "facial feedback loop" insures a smile is typically met with a smile from other people.
  • Women who smile are typically seen as more friendly and more attractive
  • Women who smile in the yearbook photos are found to be happier 25 years later.
A sneer is a prickly protective armor. You won't be stomped on, but you may keep people too far away to touch and hold you close. It may feel like it empowers you. Tyler Perry gets laughs by showing angry bitchy sneering non smiling women. The title character in the Stephan King movie Deloris Clayborn says, "Sometimes being a bitch is all you have to hold on to." sometimes the Black angry women in Tyler Perry's movies just complain, but often the angry "bitch" is energized to powerful destructive action. The iconic defiant sneer on the wife in the movie, "Waiting to Exhale" comes to mind. She goes from a happy smiling wife to a sneering ragging tiger getting mad enough at her unfaithful husband that she takes all his clothes and goodies like his golf club and piles them on his Mercedes and sets them on fire. The sneer on her face along with her defiant upraised chin as she watches the flames climb seemed to say to Black Women, stop smiling and taking it, get angry and start taking.

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://pattiwood.net/. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.