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Smiling reflects different emotions in men and women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2009

Simine Vazire ,
Laura P. Naumann ,
Peter J. Rentfrow  and
Samuel D. Gosling
Simine Vazire
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130. svazire@artsci.wustl.eduwww.simine.com
Laura P. Naumann
Affiliation:
Institute of Personality and Social Research, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-5050. naumann@berkeley.eduhttp://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~johnlab/naumann.htm
Peter J. Rentfrow
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Politics, Psychology, and Sociology, The University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RQ, United Kingdom. pjr39@cam.ac.ukhttp://www.ppsis.cam.ac.uk/psy/staff/jrentfrow.html
Samuel D. Gosling
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, A8000 Austin, TX 78712-0187. samg@mail.utexas.eduwww.samgosling.com
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Abstract

We present evidence that smiling is positively associated with positive affect in women and negatively associated with negative affect in men. In line with Vigil's model, we propose that, in women, smiling signals warmth (trustworthiness cues), which attracts fewer and more intimate relationships, whereas in men, smiling signals confidence and lack of self-doubt (capacity cues), which attracts numerous, less-intimate relationships.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 32 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 403 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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