Why Smile?: The Science Behind Facial Expressions

by Marianne LaFrance

When someone smiles, the effects are often positive: a glum mood lifts; an apology is accepted; a deal is struck; a flirtation begins. But change the circumstances or the cast of a smile, and the terms shift: a rival grins to get under your skin; a bully’s smirk unsettles his mark. Marianne LaFrance, called the world’s expert on smiles, investigates the familiar grin and finds that it is not quite as simple as it first appears. LaFrance shows how the smile says much more than we realize—or care to admit: not just cheerful expressions, smiles are social acts with serious consequences.



Drawing on her research conducted at Yale University and Boston College as well as the latest studies in psychology, medicine, anthropology, biology, and computer science, LaFrance explores the compelling science behind the smile. Who shows more fake smiles, popular kids or unpopular kids? Is it good or bad when a bereaved person smiles? These are some of the questions answered in this groundbreaking and insightful work. To read it is to learn just how much the smile influences our lives and our relationships.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Self Help, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2011

About the author

Marianne LaFrance received her PhD from Boston University. She is now a professor at Yale University, and her research has been featured in media outlets such as NPR, the BBC, and the New York Times. She lives in Guilford, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Amy Alkon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, while filled with some interesting perceptions, is sadly lacking in research from evolutionary psychology that would give some of the "why" behind the behavior. An example is Martie Haselton and David Buss's "Error Management Theory" and how men are prone to overperceive female interest from smiles (from a paper by Haselton). There's a body of research since Haselton's paper from 2003 that supports the notion, first touched on by Antonia Abbey in the late 80s, about male overperception of female interest.

It also fails to go into embodied cognition, which was another disappointment.

Those who don't know the research and don't know what they are missing will get things out of this book. The writing is good and the book is interesting.

[Aaronmac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting social psych book about smiles and facial expression across topics of development, cultural influence, emotional expression, communication, gender, and cross-cultural interaction. Particularly fascinating were the chapters on smiles in child development, gender roles and influences on smiling, and the cross-cultural comparisons of what smiles mean in different contexts or how the presence of others affects smiles.