When you're feeling blue, try a smile
There is an old idea, in both scientific and everyday circles, that the feedback from our own facial movements can shape how we feel. It shows up in the sayings we have all heard: "fake it till you make it," "grin and bear it," "smile your way to happiness."
Psychologists call it the facial feedback hypothesis: the notion that you can nudge an emotion by consciously changing your expression. Smile, and you feel a little happier. Frown, and you feel a little worse.
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Psychologists call this idea the facial feedback hypothesis.
What the science actually found
It has been debated for decades, and it is not settled as hard scientific theory. But in one large analysis, researchers used meta-analysis, pooling data from more than 11,000 participants across 138 studies worldwide, and found that the small act of putting on a smile really can shift your mood. The effect is modest, but real.
"Maybe people can 'smile their way to happiness,'" said Nicholas Coles, the study's lead author. "These findings are exciting because they provide a clue about how the mind and the body interact to shape our conscious experience of emotion."
Worth a try
Whether or not the effect is large, there is no harm in trying. The next time you catch yourself in a foul mood, put on a smile and see what happens. And if you want a bigger lift, there is a reliable one: do something for someone else. Volunteering, helping a neighbor, giving a little of your time — those tend to move the needle far more than any single expression.
That is really our whole reason for being. GoodBulb exists to put a smile on as many faces as we can, through the light we make, and where the proceeds go. We can't help it. It's in our smile.
(One for the road: I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes. She gave me a hug.)
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