The IAA One Minute Blog

If you are feeling low, smile. That alone could help improve your mood, says a new study.

New Study on Smiling

The new study involved nearly 3,900 participants from 19 countries.

The researchers used three techniques believed to activate smile muscles. One third of study participants used the pen in mouth technique where participants held a pen in their teeth without letting their teeth touch, while another third were asked to mimic the expressions of smiling actors. The final third were asked to move the corners of their lips to their ears and lift their cheeks using only face muscles.

Half of the participants in each group did these actions while looking at blank screens. The other half looked at cheerful images of puppies, kittens, flowers, and fireworks.

Everyone was asked to use a neutral expression and did so while seeing the same images. The participants were even asked to do other small physical tasks, so they wouldn’t know what was being studied, as well as solve simple math problems.

Researchers then asked participants to rate their happiness after each task.

The team found a noticeable increase in happiness when participants mimicked smiling photographs or pulled their mouth toward their ears. The pen in mouth technique did not seem to change the mood.

The result provides a compelling argument that human emotions are somehow linked to facial muscles.

The findings were published in the journal, “Nature Human Behavior”.

Smiling and Your Health

Smiling can help you in numerous ways. Smiling can:

• Elevate your mood: Smiles physically activate pathways in the brain that influence your emotional state. So, by smiling, you can trick your mind into feeling happy—regardless of whether it is real or not.
• Lower blood pressure: Researchers have found that smiling can lower your heart rate in the face of stress.
• Positivity: Smiling can help make you a more positive person.
• Relieve stress: Smiling has the ability to reduce stress.

Another added bonus of smiling is that it can help make you look younger. According to researchers, smiling makes people appear younger. Study participants underestimated the ages of people who smiled when shown photos.

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America wants to see you smile! A smile a day can’t keep the doctor away, but it may help in other ways. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.