Faking It ‘Till You Make It: Why We Should All Smile More

Natalie Pettirossi

Illustrations by: Allie Verdesca and Mara Russell

Allie Verdesca

We’ve all heard the expression “fake it till you make it.” Whether it’s a friend telling you to be nice to someone who drives you crazy, a teammate encouraging you to play through the pain of an injury, or a parent reminding you to act more confident at school, this phrase might make you roll your eyes. But for all the eye-rolling and annoyance this phrase can bring, there’s actually some truth behind it.

“Fake it till you make it” holds notable merit in the case of faking a smile. Smiles are officially classified into two main categories: the standard smile and the Duchenne, or genuine smile. The standard smile is that small, usually forced expression we offer to someone to be polite or to show that we are paying attention. This smile is representative of the common phrase, “the smile did not reach their eyes,” which is often used to critique ingenuine reactions. While standard smiles merely activate the muscle surrounding the mouth (the zygomaticus muscle), Duchenne smiles activate both the zygomaticus muscle and the muscles surrounding the eyes (orbicularis oculi muscles) [1]. Thus, when you are “smiling with your eyes,” you are actually performing the Duchenne smile. Unlike the standard smile, a Duchenne smile is an unbridled form of expression that transforms the entire face as both the mouth and the eyes react and change position [2]. Even though both smiles are different, they each trigger the release of beneficial chemicals, improving psychological and physiological body responses. 

SMILING ACTIVATES IMPORTANT SUBCORTICAL STRUCTURES

 The changing position of facial muscles in both the standard and the Duchenne smile activates the amygdala -- a structure found in the temporal lobes of the brain. The amygdala is responsible for decision-making and emotional responses [3]. For example, if you were in the middle of a forest and encountered a bear, your amygdala would trigger the fight or flight response, preparing you to either run away in the opposite direction or stand up to the bear and scream. Your amygdala regulates emotions and behaviors, serving as an alarm to the hypothalamus, another structure in the brain that regulates the release of a variety of chemicals such as neurotransmitters and endorphins [4]. 

When you smile and your zygomaticus muscle changes position, your amygdala is activated, alerting the hypothalamus to secrete four important mood-boosting chemicals: neuropeptides, proteins that combat body stress responses; dopamine, a hormone involved in motivation pathways; endorphins, the body’s natural pain killer; and serotonin, a hormone connected to happiness and mood regulation[5]. These chemicals have many functions in the body, contributing to both physiological and psychological processes. Notably, the release of neuropeptides and endorphins improves the body's physiological responses. Neuropeptides have a calming effect on the nervous system while endorphins function similarly to opioids, mitigating pain in the body. When neuropeptides and endorphins are released together, the body becomes more relaxed. The release of dopamine and serotonin, on the other hand, play an even larger role in improving the body’s psychological processes. Increasing dopamine levels in the body also increase motivation by heightening reward and pleasure pathways, and raised levels of serotonin increase overall feelings of happiness [5]. Therefore, these “Big Four” components are exactly why we should smile more; the more neuropeptides, dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin our body releases, the better we feel both physically and emotionally. 

However, a smile does not need to be Duchenne to feel this pleasurable rush. Your amygdala cannot differentiate between a fake or a genuine smile and therefore triggers the same release of neurotransmitters and endorphins regardless if it is “real.” Even when you have to force a smile at someone’s cheesy joke, the zygomaticus muscle changes position, alerting the amygdala to activate the hypothalamus and release the same endorphins and neurotransmitters, regardless of the type of smile [1].  In other words, we no longer need to entertain ourselves with John Mulaney or Trevor Noah to find an excuse to smile; we really can “fake it till we make it,” reaping the same psychological and physiological benefits with an ingenuine smile. 

Allie Verdesca

SMILING CAN CHANGE YOUR MOOD

A recent study examined how changing participants’ facial expressions could impact their mood and interpretation of ambiguous stimuli, or stimuli that do not have an explicitly positive or negative connotation [6]. In this experiment, psychology students were shown a slideshow of images and asked to rank each slide as very negative, neutral (ambiguous), or very positive [6]. Electrodes attached to the subject's facial muscles allowed researchers to control and manipulate these muscles into either a standard smile or a frown as the participants watched the slideshow [6]. The team found that significantly more positive ratings were given to ambiguous stimuli when participants were smiling compared to when they were frowning. This suggests that the activation of the zygomaticus muscle can positively influence how people perceive neutral stimuli [6]. All in all, this study corroborates the point that smiles, even forced ones, can improve your mood, allowing you to view your surroundings and environment in a more positive light [7]. 

 On the other hand, additional studies have shown that the inhibition of facial expressions can actually weaken some emotional experiences [8]. This finding, as well as the one detailed above, prompted researchers to consider the negative consequences of facial muscle activation by looking at the effects of BOTOX injections on decreased amygdala activation and emotional capacity [9]. Botulinum toxin, commonly referred to as BOTOX, is a neurotoxin protein that is used for a variety of medical reasons, though, most notably, by dermatologists to treat wrinkles. BOTOX causes muscle paralysis by blocking the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for smooth muscle contraction [10]. With limited facial muscle movement, fine lines and wrinkles are smoothed out, along with facial expressions and the corresponding visual cues of mood and emotion. In fact, a study conducted in 2020 found that BOTOX patients experienced a significant decrease in the strength of their emotional experiences, again suggesting that facial expressions may impact emotional experience [11]. Through the inhibition or exhibition of facial expressions, one is able to change one’s own mood. 

SMILING MAY IMPROVE STRESS RESPONSES

Not only do facial expressions, such as smiling, make up an integral component of mood and emotional state, but they also impact our physiological health. For example, one of the most important jobs of the smile is to decrease our bodies’ stress response. Stress can be understood as a real or perceived threat to our wellbeing that disrupts homeostasis — our body’s ability to maintain internal stability—and causes our body to react [12]. The stress response is the fight or flight reaction mentioned earlier, like when you encounter a bear in the forest and your body is prompted to decide what to do next. This is an important survival mechanism as the response activates the necessary neuroendocrine systems for a suitable reaction to the threat. 

However, the activation of our stress response is not always beneficial. While the acute stress response is evolutionarily necessary, chronic stress is a major physiological problem that affects more and more people at an increasing rate [13]. Chronic stress is characterized by a variety of symptoms, but notable characteristics include high blood pressure, obesity, and brain changes that can contribute to anxiety, depression, and addiction [13]. Some techniques used to counter these responses promote relaxation through visualization and mindfulness practices, deep breathing exercises, and physical activity such as yoga or tai chi [13]. Beyond these, newer research is starting to consider the effects of social support in alleviating bodily stress reactions. So, why not consider the potential benefits of smiling as well?

As such, a recent study looked at how manipulated smiles affected stress recovery and heart rate. Participants were divided into three groups and were trained to hold different facial expressions through the placement of chopsticks in their mouths. The chopstick placement replicated and activated facial muscles responsible for neutral expressions, standard smiles, or Duchenne smiles. After being put through a stressful activity, the participants in both the standard and the Duchenne smile group had lower heart rates than the neutral expression group. While the Duchenne smile group had a trend of lower heart rates than the standard smile group, the difference was not statistically significant, meaning that both types of smiles are considered effective [1]. This goes to show that, just as smiles can increase the secretion of mood-boosting chemicals in the brain and improve positive experiences, they can also alleviate stress responses, therefore improving physiological health. 

Mara Russell

COMPOUNDING EFFECTS: SMILES AND LAUGHTER

But it doesn’t just stop there: the findings that a smile can improve stress responses bring forth new questions. One research team decided to build off of previous studies of the smile’s impact on stress levels by investigating how both smiling and laughter may affect stress responses. This study was conducted to better understand positive affect, or the state of experiencing pleasure, which typically decreases mental and physiological stress responses [14]. To quantify positive affect, the researchers cited laughter as the highest level or display of pleasure, followed by a Duchenne smile and then no smile at all. The major goal of this study was to determine if laughter has a stress-buffering effect on participants. Both the frequency and intensity of laughter were studied and it was found that higher frequencies of laughter reduced self-reported stress response symptoms [14]. 

Interestingly, this study was actually a test of the stress-buffering model of the positive affect hypothesis, which states that positive affect reduces the health-harming effects of physiological stress [15]. A previous study had determined that greater positive affect was found to be associated with lower mortality risk, inspiring the researchers who studied laughter’s effects to build off of this work and determine significant associations between greater positive affect and lower perceived stress. Stress contributes to mortality risk and therefore when positive affect mitigates stress responses, it also mitigates mortality risk too. These studies can be looked at together to understand how smiling and the release of mood-boosting chemicals can play a crucial role in mitigating the stress responses that often take a toll on the body.  

THE POWER OF FAKING IT

In the age of COVID and the heightened stress, worry, and isolation that accompanies this pandemic, it often feels like there is a lot less to smile about. The loss of routine, education, jobs, time with loved ones, and opportunities can be an incredibly challenging weight to bear. However, it’s clear that, now more than ever, it is important to coax those facial muscles to turn on and smile. Doing so will help our brains and bodies stay healthy and prepared to face whatever challenge comes next. Moreover, smiling will set us up for success in other ways, improving our mood and our brain’s chemical balance, therefore decreasing our perception of stress. So now really is the time to fake it till you make it: keep smiling through these challenging times and know that doing so will benefit you both psychologically and physiologically.

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REFERENCES

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