Reading a smiling face: messages conveyed by various forms of smiling.
This study investigated the effect of various forms of smiling (closed smile, upper smile, or broad smile) on person perception. Brazilian undergraduates (N = 330) judged a photograph of a male or female stimulus person in three age ranges (young, middle-aged, and old) and smiling or not. 7-point scales were used to measure respondents' perception of the stimulus persons on various attributes (attractiveness, happiness, extroversion, sympathy, kindness, submission, ambition, and intelligence). We found that a smile enhanced attractiveness and kindness ratings independently of its form, whereas the influence of the various forms on ratings of happiness was additive. As the neutral face changed to a closed smile and the closed smile became a broad smile, target stimuli were attributed greater rated happiness. We also found a contribution of perceivers' gender to the judgements of extroversion and sympathy, indicating a slightly greater discrimination of facial expressions among women than among men.
Otta
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Institute of Psychology University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Folladore Abrosio
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Hoshino
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RL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010551:Personality; D012904:Smiling; D012938:Social Perception; D014796:Visual Perception