Research
Forcing yourself to smile can actually make you miserable
The Brief
- A University of Florida study with more than 1,100 participants examined forced smiling.
- The reported finding is that repeatedly forcing a smile may make people feel worse, even though a single artificial smile may behave differently.
- The source excerpt is truncated, so the full methods and results are not available here.
Why it matters
Smiling on purpose is often recommended as a mood-boosting habit, so evidence that repeated forced smiles may backfire is relevant to anyone using it as a self-help strategy.
Who’s affected
- readers interested in psychology and mental health
- #psychology
- #emotions
- #mental-health
- #smiling
- #wellbeing
Smiling may not always make you happier, and new research suggests that forcing yourself to smile repeatedly could actually make you feel worse. In a University of Florida study involving more than 1,100 participants, researchers discovered that while a single artificial smile…
Timeline
ScienceDaily reported the University of Florida study on forced smiling
Mind & Brain News -- ScienceDaily
Forcing yourself to smile can actually make you miserable