Scientists have studied the ability of a smile to influence the perception of other people

A study by scientists from the University of the Southwest Pacific Network and Humboldt University of Berlin has shown that facial expressions, especially smiles, affect how we perceive other people and the level of trust we place in them. They studied how emotional mimicry (copying facial expressions) affects the perception of personality, including qualities such as trust and attractiveness. This was reported by Medical Xpress magazine on December 22.

People tend to judge the personal qualities of others based on their appearance. However, facial expression plays a significant role in non-verbal communication and is a source of a lot of information about another person. According to the publication, emotional mimicry plays an important role — the tendency to imitate the person with whom the interaction takes place.

Researchers have studied the role of emotional mimicry in attributing specific character traits to other people. During the analysis, they took into account factors such as the emotional meaning of the facial expression, the context of the assessment, and the character traits being evaluated.

The results showed that people tend to trust those who express joy more, and they are more likely to imitate joyful expressions, as opposed to expressions of anger or sadness. The influence of joy on the perception of trust and reliability was particularly strong, which is confirmed by the research data.

Several experiments were conducted in the study. One of them showed that participants were more likely to imitate people who showed joy than those who expressed anger or sadness. Scientists assumed that participants would trust smiling people better and would be more likely to imitate happiness than sadness.

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"It is important to note that it is the intensity of imitation that will determine how much participants will trust the people they are imitating. In other words, the more a person imitates another person's smile, the more they will trust that person," said Michal Olshanowski, PhD, professor at the University of the Southwest Pacific Network, psychologist.

Experiments have shown that the activity of facial muscles associated with the imitation of emotions can affect the assessment of another person's character traits. The results showed that people tend to trust those who express joy more and they are more likely to imitate joyful expressions, as opposed to expressions of anger or sadness. The influence of joy on the perception of trust and reliability was particularly strong, which is confirmed by the research data.

"Our research shows that people draw conclusions about others based on their facial expressions. Most importantly, this study confirms the view that facial expression predicts the assessment of character traits and that happiness plays a particularly important role here," Olshanovsky emphasized.

According to him, in some way this confirms the widespread observation about the ability of expressing positive emotions to lead to a more positive attitude towards a person. From a scientific point of view, the results are said to expand knowledge about the role of emotional mimicry in social interactions.

On December 12, Medical Xpress pointed out the connection of feelings of compassion with a higher level of life satisfaction. According to the study, people who empathize with others, support them, and strive to help them experience more joy and see more meaning in life.

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