Smiling is a natural act and is part of a person’s way of expressing themselves. For many, the smile has a lot of power, to the point of transmitting a lot of confidence and security. It can also show happiness, courage, and even love. However, not all are the same. Some may show a specific emotion, while others only seem to evoke rest. For many they are the best feature of a person’s face. When they are genuine, they seem to illuminate and provide a certain candor to the expression, but these types of beautiful smiles are not the only ones that we are capable of painting on our faces. Psychologically, there are several types of smile and their meaning is different. Join us in Supercurioso to know each one.
Types of smile and their meaning: know the difference between each one
Our facial muscles have evolved to become a remarkable channel of communication. For people, our faces also serve to convey a wide range of emotions and attitudes. Although we typically associate smiles with happiness, we can use smiles in various ways. Here are 5 types of smiles and what they mean.
1. The Duchenne smile
Psychologist and expert in nonverbal communication, Paul Ekman, uses this term to describe the true smile of happiness. In addition to the upturned corners of the mouth (which are stereotypically associated with a smile), the Duchenne smile is identified by narrowed, happy eyes that leave wrinkles, or “crow’s feet.”
A person who is trained in the Ekman Facial Affect Coding System (FACS) can always distinguish a true, or Duchenne, smile from smiles that mean other things.
2. Fake smile
This smile lacks the eye involvement of the Duchenne smile and suggests that the person is feigning happiness. When people tell us to “smile” for the camera, chances are we’re using a fake smile.
That is why it is important to know the types of smile and their meaning, to be able to distinguish when someone sketches a false smile and when not.
3. Awkward smile
This is one of the types of smile that appears at times like when someone says something inappropriate, and the people around them they feel embarrassed, but do not want to show it openly. It could be said that one of the curiosities of the smile is that it works for everything. Not just for joy.
A smile of this kind exists for cover up a genuine feeling of discomfort. In an ingenious experiment, carried out within the framework of a scientific study, women in a job interview were asked a sexually inappropriate question, and most of them gave an awkward smile in reaction.
4. Seductive smile
In an investigation on seduction, carried out by the experts of PsychologyTodayit was shown that when people try to be seductive, they usually show a slight smile that accompanies direct eye contact, with a slow gaze.
Interestingly, the seductive smile could be accompanied by submissive behavior (head tilting down), or dominant behavior, with a proud attitude and looking slightly away. It could be said that one of the benefits of smiling is flirting more. You should try it.
5. Sarcastic smile
This smile suggests a positive emotion (mouth turned up), but the eyes often reveal an ulterior motive. She is accompanied by a look of disdain; sometimes the sarcastic smile can appear crooked, demonstrating the contradictory emotions of amusement and aversion.
In everyday social interaction, people may smile dozens, perhaps even hundreds of times a day. Those with little non-verbal decoder skills assume they are all meant to convey happiness and positive affect, but smiles, like all aspects of facial expressions, are complex and can convey mixed messages. That is why the types of smile and their meaning are usually so complex.
6. Scary smile
You can learn a lot from animals. Especially chimpanzees. They have a tendency to smile silently, thus demonstrating submission, nervousness, and fear. Generally, smiling is not associated with fear, but Babies have also been shown to crack smiles when they are distressed.
In that sense, an experiment carried out at Yale University determined that we tend to smile when we are in the presence of people we consider to be of a higher level or status.
7. Toned down smile
Although it is very difficult to understand, the typical genuine and cheerful smile has not always been well accepted. During the 17th century, in Europe, the simple fact of expressing emotions was highly valued. A Russian proverb even became famous that said that “smiling for no reason is a sign of stupidity.”
On the other hand, in Japan, you tend to smile more with your eyes than with your mouth. That is why the faded or muffled smile is the result of controlling a genuine and happy full smile. Generally, the cheeks tend to rise, but we press the lips together or bring the corners of the mouth down to try to disguise the smile.
8. Wretched smile
One of the types of smile and its best known meaning is that of the miserable smile. It is also seen as a socially respectful and acceptable way to show sadness, pain, or resignation. It usually has a slight asymmetry, but whose attention is focused on the sadness of the eyes.
In fact, A study conducted at the University of San Francisco detailed more than 4,800 photographs of athletes who participated in the Athens Olympic Games. The results showed that those who came in second and won the silver medal used to wear these smiles.
9. Mischievous smile
Among the types of smiles and their meaning, the one known as malicious is one of the cruelest. As predicted by its name, it is the one that indicates the joy of one person over the misfortune of another. For this reason, many have learned to disguise these types of emotions better than others. However, sometimes it is often very difficult.
Commonly, an angry expression is reflected on the upper part of the lips, which outlines a fixed smile, very creepy. It is even an essential feature of the antagonists in horror movies.
10. Sneer
It is also usually one of the types of smiles with a meaning that is difficult to tolerate. It is a combination between disgust and resentment, and is often confused with a pleasant smile. However, it is differentiated by the corners of the lips that appear to be tight.
For its part, the sneer is very common in Asia. In this region, the rule dictates that people hide their feelings. For this reason, they usually smile when they feel frustrated or angry.
These are just some of the most common types of smiles and their meanings that exist. Of course, there are many more kinds and ways to smile than we see in our day to day. For this reason, it is important to learn to read people’s body language, especially the facial part, which usually denotes a greater amount of information. Leave us in the comments if you know of any others!