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smiling

Why smiling is contagious

Smiling isnโ€™t so much contagious as it is an involuntary reaction known as mirroring โ€” the act of matching a personโ€™s facial expression.

Adrienne Wood, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, studies non-verbal communication; specifically, the way people communicate through facial expressions.

โ€œIn order to recognize the facial expressions and emotional expressions we see, we recreate what it feels like to do that facial expression,โ€ said Wood. โ€œWe refer to that stimulation to understand what the person in front of us is feeling and what their intentions are. Then you know how to respond appropriately. This is all happening without you even thinking about it.โ€

This was backed up by another study byย T.L. Kraft et al., who found that humans subconsciously โ€œtry onโ€ each otherโ€™s expressions in order to understand how others are feeling. In essence, the contagiousness of smiling is our way of connecting with others and triggering the appropriate emotionsย inย the moment.

Fake smiling

As it turns out, forcing a smile can actually change your emotions,ย according to a report by Psychology Today.ย If youโ€™re not feeling your best on a particular day, the act of smiling can trigger your body to release dopamine, endorphins and serotonin โ€“ย neurotranmittersย that make you feel good โ€“ to elevate your mood. Some people have found that simply smiling at themselves in the mirror can achieve this result. And if the grin staring back at you is clean and healthy, it will make you feel even better about yourselfโ€ฆ all the more reason to look after those pearly whites of yours!

How a healthy mouth leads to a better smile

Yes, taking good care of your teeth will make them look better. And youโ€™ll smile bigger because youโ€™ll be more confident. A healthy mouth also means better breath, so you wonโ€™t feel like you have to hold back a hearty โ€œHA!โ€

A lastย word about contagious smiling

Youโ€™ve no doubt heard that 90% of human communication is non-verbal. Your gestures speak volumes about what youโ€™re feeling and how you feel about the person youโ€™re โ€œnot speakingโ€ to. Smiling will go a long way to making every conversation more positive.

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