smile
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In physiology , the smile is a facial expression that is always created near the corners of the mouth by tensing the facial muscles , and also around the eyes in the "real" Duchenne smile . In humans , the smile is usually an expression of joy , goodwill, and serves e.g. B. the establishment of communication , but can also be an uncontrolled expression of fearfulness ( nervous smile ).
The distinction between a real and a posed smile goes back to the French scientist Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne .
Studies have shown that smiling is a normal response to certain stimuli , regardless of culture . It is not a learnable reaction, but is given to people from birth . In animals , a smile is often used as a threat (showing teeth ) or as a sign of submission.
Not only does smiling supposedly cause a change in facial expression, it also causes the brain to produce endorphins that reduce physical and emotional pain and increase well-being .
Philosophical-anthropological interpretation
The philosopher Helmuth Plessner gave the smile a special place within mimic forms of expression. The smile is ambiguous and can be assigned to the most varied of occasions and has a broad "variety in affective tones". He called it a “facial expression of the spirit” insofar as a natural gesture “already maintains distance in the expression of the expression” and thus preserves the distancing of man from himself and his environment - which is specific to him in contrast to animals.
Genetic bases
Even the social smile is considered to be innate, as indicated, for example, by differences in the smile of sighted and blind Olympic winners. Both blind and sighted second and third place winners showed the social smile. Even before the social smile, you can see the pre-smile in babies. This so-called angel smile typically happens in the first few weeks of life. This is nothing more than a reflex, which usually happens during sleep.
Smiles in the service culture
Smiles are also part of good service and are seen as kindness shown .
The city of Hamburg organizes z. B. the campaign A smile for Hamburg , with which employees should be motivated to "smile, with which customers and guests should be pampered much more often" .
In 2006, the emotion researcher Dieter Zapf examined the consequences of professionally prescribed permanent smiles . He found that a forced smile, in which one suppresses one's actual emotions , leads to changes in the circulatory system in the short term, and in the long term to stress and illnesses such as depression .
There are also the expressions “false (fake) smile” (e.g. sneering smile) and “tired smile” (a reaction to a non-humorous utterance).
Smiles and strangeness
The behavioral researcher Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt described in his book Love and Hatred, first published in 1970, the smile as a means of alleviating experiences of foreignness and enmity as well as possible "disarming". So he wrote:
“Our most important friendly signal is a smile. With this innate behavior we are able to make friends with completely strangers. A disarmed smile. Only recently I read about an American sergeant who suddenly found himself across from two Viet Cong soldiers. His rifle failed and he smiled, which inhibited his opponents. However, distrust and fear immediately let the initial contact die off again. The American loaded through and killed his opponents. According to legend, Kypselus , who later became the tyrant of Corinth, escaped his captors when he was a baby because he smiled at them. "
The philosopher Emil Cioran , on the other hand, described the process of dissolution: “ › The laughter disappeared, then the smile. ‹Nothing describes the scheme of every decline as well as this seemingly naive remark by a biographer of Alexander Blok .
Photo smile
In order to appear sociable, friendly and happy, people often smile in photos. Only official regulations for passport photos require a neutral facial expression.
The geometric analysis of the mouth in portrait photos of American schoolchildren from 1905 to 2013 showed that the expression on it had developed from serious to smiling over time. Anyone who used to model a painting had to choose relaxed facial expressions, as they had to be maintained for a long time. The film and camera manufacturer Kodak in particular propagated the "joy of photography". Typical sayings are say cheese or “there comes Vogerl”.
Diseased smile
A persistent, objectively unfounded smile is a symptom of Angelman syndrome .
See also
- Smile
- Smiley face
- Emotion work
- Positive thinking
- The expression of the emotions in humans and animals
literature
- René A. Spitz : The smiling response: a contribution to the ontogenesis of social relations. In: Genetic Psychology Monographs. Volume 34, 1946, pp. 57-125.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helmut Plessner: The smile. In: ders .: With different eyes. Aspects of a Philosophical Anthropology. Stuttgart 1982, p. 183 ff.
- ^ David Matsumoto, Bob Willingham, Spontaneous facial expressions of emotion of congenitally and noncongenitally blind individuals. In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. January 2009
- ↑ A professionally prescribed permanent smile makes you sick. In: Handelsblatt of March 16, 2006
- ^ Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt: love and hate. On the natural history of elementary behavior. 16th edition, Munich 1993, p. 113 f. (Adaptation of the quotations to the ref. German spelling.)
- ^ Emil Cioran : The disadvantage of being born. Frankfurt a. M. 1979, p. 61, ISBN 3-518-37049-9 .
- ↑ Robert Czepel: Why we grin at the camera - science.ORF.at. In: sciencev2.orf.at. December 13, 2015, accessed September 16, 2016 .