People would rather be with others who are smiling, but why?

In a new study, the role of facial mimicry of emotions shows some clear benefits to a smiling face.

By understanding the reasons that smiles are so positively received, your relationships will be happier too.

The expression, “smile and the world smiles with you” may seem a bit naïve at worst, or trite at best. Sure, a pleasant facial expression communicates a happy and cheerful personality, but why should that matter or influence how others treat you?

Think about the last time you were on a Face Time or video call. Someone at the other end was pushing your buttons, and you were frustrated and annoyed. Did you let those negative emotions leak out? If so, maybe you noticed that people moved on in the conversation and stopped paying attention to you.

What if, instead of frowning, you put on a somewhat false front where you let the smile cover up your true feelings? If you’ve ever been in this situation, you may be able to attest to the fact that everything seemed to go more smoothly, and other people reflected your happiness back onto you.

No one would deny that the expression of emotions contributes importantly to the way that people communicate. But can the expression of positive emotions have some other effects you didn’t realize? New research says it just might.

How Facial Expressions Influence Personality Judgments

According to Humboldt University’s Michal Olszanowski and colleagues (2026), people not only........

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