Smiles as multipurpose social signals

Jared Martin, Magdalena Rychlowska, Adrienne Wood, Paula M. Niedenthal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

119 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The human smile is highly variable in both its form and the social contexts in which it is displayed. A social-functional account identifies three distinct smile expressions defined in terms of their effects on the perceiver: reward smiles reinforce desired behavior; affiliation smiles invite and maintain social bonds; and dominance smiles manage hierarchical relationships. Mathematical modeling uncovers the appearance of the smiles, and both human and Bayesian classifiers validate these distinctions. New findings link laughter to reward, affiliation, and dominance, and research suggests that these functions of smiles are recognized across cultures. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the smile can be productively investigated according to how it assists the smiler in meeting the challenges and opportunities inherent in human social living.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)864-877
JournalTrends In Cognitive Sciences
Early online date27 Sept 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01 Nov 2017

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