Everyone has faked a smile at some point, for numerous possible reasons. Maybe to hide they are unhappy or troubled, or simply perhaps to show an act of friendliness when passing by a stranger. This is done unconsciously usually without consideration it has any effect on the person giving or receiving the smile. But since new research suggests that faking your smile can in fact worsen your mood and result in losing focus on the task being worked on, some people may reconsider giving a phony grin, while some may not.
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Gabrielle Rivera, a student at the University of Colorado at Denver, confirmed that she was aware of many occasions where she flashed a fake smile. “I do it all the time. I don’t really think about it. It’s easier to just smile at someone sometimes than to show the underlying, most likely exceptionally compound problems that you may be going through.” Rivera also said that she can often tell when someone else gives her a fake smile, but doesn’t take any offense to it, let alone any true notice. “It’s whatever. We all do it with no intention of being rude or fake.”
Trina Giego, a student at Metro State also voiced her opinion. “I think that anytime you smile, genuine or not, its going to send positive signals to your brain, therefore, putting you in a good mood.”
After Rivera and Griego were informed that recent research has shown that fake smiles can be bad for your health both were surprised. “Everyone has to fake it sometimes. I don’t believe that any human being is able to express themselves completely without at some point covering up something they just don’t want to talk about or convey. I feel like this is a natural human impulse or characteristic. How could it be bad for your health, really? That seems silly,” says Rivera.
Well, here is a bit of an explanation. The Academy of Management Journal published a study this month where scientists followed a set of bus drivers for two weeks where they studied their everyday interactions with people. They discovered that real smiles are formed through positive thoughts and feelings, while fake smiles, known as “surface acting,” are forced smiles with no authentic emotion. From this study, the scientists discovered that the days when the bus drivers were faking their smiles, they tended to lose their focus on work, became discouraged and their mood progressively deteriorated.
Another study done shows that some may put on a fake smirk because they are afraid of rejection. In the recent study published in the October issue of Psychological Science, “socially rejected people are extremely good at separating fake smiles from real ones.” The study concluded that socially accepted people had a more difficult time depicting people with fake smiles from people with real, genuine ones. “I like when I smile at a stranger and get a smile back. Both smiles may be insincere, may not be, but getting a smile back makes me feel respected by that person and that's a great feeling. It puts me in a very positive mood,” says Caitlyn Hudson, a young girl working at Starbucks who has to “fake” her smile often when serving customers. It’s suggested that those who feel socially rejected have more motivation to become and feel accepted, therefore allowing them to feel the need to snap a phony smile in order to receive positive response.
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