Smile if You're in the Mood!-The Sex Behind Smiling - FINAL REPORT

a. During the middle of the Nineteenth century Charles Darwin worked laboriously to unearth the answers to a set of pressing questions. From where did we inherit the ability to express ourselves through facial gestures? Are expressions inherited, or are they learned? To what extent do our facial expressions relay our actual emotional state? Darwin diligently observed primates to flesh out answers to these questions, and learned from careful study that our facial expressions were the result of a defined evolutionary process.

Darwin published his findings on evolution of facial expression in his 1872 work The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His theory of primate to human facial evolution is divided into three parts, and deals with the fact that as our pre-human ancestors repeatedly reacted to stimuli in similar ways, our nerves and facial muscles adapted to allow us to continue to react with the same gestures. Darwin comprised his theory from three main points. The Principle of Associated Habits held that “consciously performed behaviors, originally necessary to survival, become unconsciously associated with certain states of the mind and through ‘habit’ come to be unconsciously performed when these states of mind are aroused, even if the original action is unnecessary” (Ekman 14). The Principle of Antithesis stated, “Once a habitual pattern is established because it is useful, the arousal of the opposite emotion induces an involuntary tendency to carry out movement directly opposed to the habitual pattern.”(Collier 76). The final Principle of Direct Action of the Nervous System held that “the excited nervous system acts directly and involuntarily on the body” (Ekman 14). According to Darwin’s work, primates evolved to gain the adaptive advantage of being able to express fear, danger, surprise, etc with the face (Skolnikoff 52).

Our project will attempt to hone in specifically on one facial expression, the smile. The smile can convey a gamut of emotion, from intense joy, to embarrassment, to romantic interest. We have different types of smiles to suit different emotional intent and can read others based on what type of smile they present. Our smile evolved from “what was originally a primate fear expression,” a “grin” seen on the faces of lemurs and monkeys in distress (Skolnikoff, p 82). Interestingly, the human “fear” expression has no real counterpart in the primate world. The hypothesis for our project is as follows:
Smiling plays a crucial role in determining the favorability of a mate; we use smiling as a way to communicate our attraction or interest in another person. We have certain smiles that send a clear message concerning our sexual intent. Women recognize these smiles in men just as men do in women, but the particular kind of smile that most clearly relays desire for a romantic or sexual relationship differs between women and men.

b. This project evolved significantly throughout the semester as the group streamlined its tests and honed in more specifically on certain questions. The decision to investigate smiling stemmed from a mutual interest in the use of body language when dating. The group hoped to determine how strong of a link there was between the nonverbal signals we send and how attractive we are perceived by the object of our attraction. The smile is the only gesture that is universally recognized; therefore the group felt that it could narrow down the project to focus only on that tiny movement of the lips. This was the only way to make a testable hypothesis. There are far too many body movements to do a full study on how people use their whole bodies in dating. Our hypothesis changed as the semester progressed because the group became more focused on the differences in preference for certain kinds of smiles, and wanted to know more about why men choose certain smiles while women choose different smiles as being the most sexually attractive. Much of the group’s data about smiling in general on campus was not particularly significant so the project got narrowed once more to focus more on the types of smiles and why they send different messages.

c. By studying the smile as it occurs in social contexts between men and women, the group hoped to discover patterns that would lead to conclusions about nonverbal sex differences. There is evidence that women smile more and are generally more facially expressive than men, and the group hoped to be able to test this theory through observation and surveying. The focus of the project was to find conclusive evidence that smiling plays a pivotal role in mate selection, and see if women smile more in order to attract the attention of male counterparts. Based on our final sets of data the group also planned to investigate each type of smile and determine whether certain smiles relayed a stronger message of romantic intent.

d. This project is particularly relevant to the college collective because college age students are at the peak of reproductive capability and sexual fertility. College is viewed as a time when people are expected to date, and many people find future marriage partners while seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees. College students are also often engaged in leisure activities such as parties and dancing where they can meet each other and interact romantically.
This research is interesting because much of the studies that have been done on this topic to date have focused on smiling as a reflex mechanism, or the broader topic of smiling to relay certain emotions. Types of smiles have been studied, in infants and adults, but so far as the group could tell there had never been anything written about the sex behind smiling. There is a lot of research about body language in general as it relates to dating and is used in the romantic world, but this group is specifically studying the smile. The smile is an almost unconscious gesture at times, but it is rife with hidden signals and can betray our interest in a person even when we verbally do not acknowledge it.

2. Relevance of the research question

a. Several researchers have investigated facial expression and the role it plays in social interaction. Paul Ekman is one of the foremost facial kinesicists (body language scientists) and has published several studies in the past that sought to find patterns in facial expressive behavior. Ekman studied infants in 1979 and determined that smiling is an innate gesture that humans can exhibit from birth. He did extensive research with cross-cultural facial expression, and in 1971 found that members of a New Guinea bush tribe were able to identify the emotions portrayed in several pictures of Americans even though they had no contact with American media or American society. In 1972 Ekman and his team of kinesicists discovered that American and Japanese citizens are more facially expressive while watching films if they believe that they are alone in the theater (Collier 62).

Numerous published works exist on the topic of facial expression, most with detailed analysis of the smile as it is used in cultures worldwide. Gary Collier of the University of Cape Breton wrote Emotional Expression, a book that synthesized much of the recent study concerning facial behavior. Collier explores the innateness of smiling and draws conclusions about its usefulness based on research conducted by several different kinesicists. Paul Ekman edited Darwin and Facial Expression, a book that details how Darwin’s theories of evolution apply to the evolution of facial expression. The book explains the minutia of muscle adaptation and the evolution of complex nervous systems that gradually allowed animals to use their faces for expressing emotion. Hedwig Lewis published Body Language, a Guide for Professionals to explain how one might use their body and face effectively in business and social situations. The work also contains a lot of theory on the whys and how of nonverbal communication, and is clearly written to provide a concise introduction to the uses of body language.

b. The intricacies of romantic interaction between men and women have been the subject of written texts, music and art since the creation of Adam and Eve. This project will hopefully provide some insight into the whys behind these interactions, and address questions of mate selection that could be applied to the world at large. The art of communication is exceedingly important to healthy relationships, and nonverbal communication accounts for approximately fifty-five percent of human language (Lewis 20). If a research project can shed light on precisely what is interpreted from different patterns of body language (specifically patterns of smiling for this project) perhaps it can serve as a guide to determining how we as humans could best use our adaptive advantage of facial expressiveness to share our thoughts and feelings with others.

3. Materials and Methods

a. This project is based on the premise that smiling is one of the most important gestures in determining whether we assess an individual as fit for romantic interlude. The group planned to evaluate the responses of men and women to various types of smiles, while attempting to judge how much of a role each smile plays in the reciprocation of our advances. We also wanted to find out what the Miami populace thought about the use of smiling in romantic situations.

This group tested its hypothesis using a survey and a survey combined with qualitative questioning. The first survey (see section “e.”) was a general overview of the usage of smiling in dating, split by gender (men and women) and campus (Western and Main). The group wanted to see whether men smile less than women (our assumption) when in both platonic and romantic situations. We also wanted to test whether there was any truth to the notion that Western kids are generally friendlier than Main Campus kids. That question had little actual bearing on our final project, but it was still an interesting tangent to pursue. There was also originally a discussion of questioning whether sexual orientation played a role in the amount of smiles that a person gives or likes receiving, but due to lack of admitted homosexual survey respondents the experiment became heterosexually based.
The researchers’ first survey went to men and women on both Western and Main Campus to collect information on usage of smiling during dating and the frequency of smiling in general on Miami’s campus. The survey was distributed to fifty Western students and fifty Main Campus kids, and collected the same day. Unfortunately the researchers did not split the numbers of men and women evenly, leading to more men being surveyed on Main Campus and more women on Western. Were we to repeat this experiment the group would ensure that both genders were equally represented on both sides. We didn’t think about the necessity of distributing evenly by gender until after the surveys were returned. That could have perhaps skewed the statistics that resulted from the survey, but the researchers could not tell from our final results whether such and error had occurred.
As part of the general survey the group asked a preliminary test question to see whether men and women found only certain types of smiles attractive and if there was a differentiation between the two genders. That last question (Question 9 on the survey) allowed the group to narrow its focus and springboard into a more in depth look at whether men and women prefer certain types of smiles and/or judge a mate’s attractiveness by their smile. It became the most pivotal question to our final results, and provided the most conclusive data of the experiment.

For the second experiment, the group wished to collect qualitative, opinion based data about smiling on campus using visual representations of the four different smiles outlined in Lewis’s book, Body Language. We split this test by gender but not by campus. Each researcher first went to ten people of the same gender (Mike did the boys, Corinne the girls) and asked them what feature of a prospective mate’s face made that mate attractive. We then asked the respondents to describe why that particular facial feature was the most attractive, and then rank the second most attractive feature and justify that answer as well.

The researchers then produced four pictures cut from magazines of faces exhibiting each of the four main types of smiles. The pictures had been cut down to remove hair and ears, leaving just the actual face available for evaluation. The “Smile A” cutout exhibited, on both the man and woman’s face, the “Biting Lip Smile,” a coy tuck of bottom lip most often employed by women and associated with subordination. “Smile B” was a picture of a man or woman exhibiting the “Simple Smile,” exposing no teeth and using only the lips to smile. “Smile C” depicted the “Upper Lip Smile,” a gregarious, open smile exposing the top row of teeth. “Smile D” depicted the “Broad Smile,” an exceptionally happy smile for which the lips are fully drawn back and both rows of teeth are exposed. Each respondent was asked to rate the four pictures in order of attractiveness and explain why they made the choices that they did. What about each person’s face made him or her attractive or not so? The group wanted to find out what would be said about smiling as it pertains to attractiveness, and whether men and women would prefer certain types of smiles in the same proportion upon seeing them as they did when asked to envision them on the first survey. Some examples of respondents’ answers are included in the results section.

Because the group wanted to be able to statistically compare the percentage of preference for each smile in the visual test against Question 9 in the first survey, we tallied the first preference for each of the ten people we originally tested, and then asked fifteen more people of each gender to simply select which of the four pictures they found most attractive. We then added these tallies to the ones gained from each of the first sets of ten subjects and analyzed the statistics using Stat View tests.

The group also attempted an experiment that we did not ultimately use for data as part of our final project, inside the First Run club uptown on a very busy Saturday night. The researchers designed the experiment to determine how men and women actually responded to smiles flashed while in a close, sexually charged dancing environment. Much of student time spent at First Run is devoted to finding someone suitable of the opposite sex to dance with, so the group wanted to collect qualitative data to see how much of a role smiling played in those decisions. The group found it very difficult to keep track of data while dancing amongst a large crowd. Also, when the nightclub is extremely busy it is hard for people to ‘respond’ to smiles with more than a smile in return. The close proximity of the other patrons in the club makes it almost impossible for test subjects to push through the crowd and make physical contact. The group found it necessary to smile at the same subject more than once to elicit a real response.

Another part of the project that the group decided against due to time constraints and lack of connection to the final hypothesis was observation of primate facial behavior at the Cincinnati Zoo. Close observation of primates by zoologists and ethnographers has yielded much proof that primates use many of the same facial expressions that humans do. This is not a surprising fact considering that humans adapted the facial muscles necessary for smiling before and during evolution from the lower primates. The group was interested to discover how primates use smiling during sexual advances and whether chimp smiling can be interpreted similarly to human smiling. In the end, though, the experiment was not feasible or necessary for the actual focus of the project.

b. This group designed the first portion of the project to allow for easy and accurate statistical analysis. A survey of 100 people exactly allowed the group to make sure that the results weren’t skewed by one or two extra respondents and that the statistics were fairly easy to calculate. Each questioned was tallied separately by gender and campus and percentages were gleaned from those figures. The second experiment was much more qualitative in nature, but also allowed for percentages of male and female smile preference to be calculated and graphed. The group did not know at first which statistics would be most helpful in representing the data it collected. After a couple of exploration sessions with professors, the proper modes for statistical calculation were decided.

c. As with all experiments, there was most likely some error that was reflected in the statistics. The group tried to ensure completely unbiased results, but when doing an experiment that involves human opinion there are bound to be places that error occurs. We were consistent with our collection methods, making sure that each survey was distributed and results collected only by the group partners. The data was tallied only by group members and triple checked to ensure accuracy in computation. The same care was taken as the information was entered into Stat view, and statistics were checked as Stat view provided them to make sure that they all remained consistent with the entered data. Sources of error that might exist are untruthfulness in survey respondents answers due to group or peer pressure to answer a certain way (some surveys were distributed in a frat house amongst frat brothers), not enough variance amongst the men from main campus (they were all from the same frat and presumably knew each other), possible human error in tallying (though the group was exceptionally meticulous about the data in an attempt to prevent this) and the uneven split between men and women.

d. The materials for this project were relatively few. Besides the actual survey sheets handed out to respondents, the group used a calculator to glean percentages from the data and programs such as Excel and Stat view to diagram the results and compute statistics. The most important materials of our project were probably the sheets with the magazine face cutouts used for experiment two. These allowed us to gain qualitative data necessary to truly test our hypothesis.

e. Example of Survey:

THE SEX BEHIND SMILING-NS 2

Please fill out the following survey to assist us in determining the role that smiling plays in dating on Miami’s campus. All surveys are anonymous and all answers will be kept confidential. Thank you very much!

1. What is your gender?
Male Female

2. Do you smile frequently at strangers of the sex that you are the most attracted to?
YES NO

3. Do you enjoy receiving smiles from strangers of the sex that you are the most attracted to?
YES NO

4. Do you smile frequently at strangers of the sex that you are not/ are the least attracted to?
YES NO

5. Do you enjoy receiving smiles from strangers of the sex that you are not/ are the least attracted to?
YES NO

6. Does a "nice smile" increase a potential mate’s attractiveness?
YES NO

7. Is the frequency with which a person smiles a factor in whether or not you will date them?
NEVER SOMETIMES ALWAYS

8. Do you find smiling to be a romantic turn-on?
NEVER SOMETIMES ALWAYS

9. What type of smile do you most associate with a romantic invitation or a sexual advance?
A. LIP-IN SMILE (Bottom lip tucked under front row of teeth, some upper teeth exposed)
B. SIMPLE SMILE (Smile with both lips only, no teeth exposed)
C. UPPER SMILE (Both lips smiling and upper row of teeth exposed)
D. BROAD SMILE (Both lips drawn completely back, both rows of teeth exposed)

10. (Optional) What is your sexual orientation?

f. Timeline for Research Execution:
2/26/00 Post online response to proposals
3/6/00 Distribute survey #1
3/9/00 Post online project report
3/20/00 Tabulate Survey result
3/30/00 Post online progress report
4/6/00 Post online progress report
4/17/00 Begin correlating data via Stat view and making charts and graphs
4/26-4/28 Hand out final survey, collect qualitative data, perform visual smile test
4/29/00 Draft Final Project
5/2/00 Post Final Project

4. Results

a. Qualitative Observations (Results for Survey Two)

The group intended the second experiment to test whether college kids would have similar opinions about the importance of smiling in romantic attraction. We asked ten student of each gender to explain what two features they found most attractive about a mate’s face. The student’s opinion based responses, split by gender, are as follows:

Men: Question One
What are the two most attractive features on a woman’s face? Why?

1.
a. Eyes: You can tell if a woman is really interested in you or not.
b. Mouth: A woman’s smile can be so beautiful at times.

2.
a. Smile: Nothing can ever beat a good smile.
b. Hair: I love to play with a woman’s hair.

3.
a. Eyes: The eyes are the windows to the soul.
b. Smile: A beautiful smile can light up my day.

4.
a. Hair: Has to be long and flowing, its just so sexy.
b. Mouth: Especially when she smiles or licks her lips.

5.
a. Smile: When a woman smiles at me it makes my day so much better.
b. Eyes: Don’t know why, they just are.

6.
a. Smile: When a girl smiles at me it is a big rush.
b. Eyes: If she is giving me the “I want you look.”

7.
a. I like the entire face, because when she smiles her whole face lights up.
b. Not Applicable

8.
a. Cheeks: Because when she smiles, the dimples can be very sexy.
b. Nose: Gives a look of intelligence.

9.
a. Hair: I love to run my hands through it.
b. Eyes: I can get lost looking into them.

10.
a. Lips: A woman can say a lot with her lips without talking to you. Smiling for example
b. Skin: I love smooth skin on faces.

Women: Question One

What are the two most attractive features on a man’s face? Why?
1.
a. Eyes: If the mouth is smiling but the eyes are not, the guy could be cold or insensitive.
b. Lips: I want an open, genuine smile. Stingy, pursed lips mean coldness.

2.
a. Nose
b. Smile: You can tell right off if a guy is friendly, a gentleman.

3.
a. Eyes: Kind soul, signified by deep sparkling eyes that “smile” all the time.
b. Smile: Signals approachability and personality.

4.
a. Eyes: Tell me what he is thinking.
b. Smile: Proves that the guy is happy.

5.
a. Teeth: Straight teeth are attractive.
b. Eyes: They are the windows to the soul.

6.
a. Eyes: Where most expression resides.
b. Mouth: Can also tell expression.

7.
a. Eyes: The center of communication.
b. Jawbone: Most prominent.

8.
a. Eyes
b. Smile: Shows mood and emotion.

9.
a. Eyes: A guy that looks straight at you signals directness.
b. Smile: Shows that a guy is positive, has good communication, and likes something about me.

10.
a. Facial Hair: Reminds me of my dad (laugh).
b. Smile: Signals approachability and that the guy is well adjusted.

For both women and men, the majority of respondents picked the smile, lips, or mouth as one of the two most attractive features on a person’s face. The only more popular choice was eyes.

Men: Question Two

Rate these smiles in order of their sexual attractiveness and explain the rating.
1)
a. She just seems as if she wants to eat me up.
b. Simple but effective.
c. Not a big fan of showing teeth when smiling.
d. It is not attractive to me at all.

2)
a. I don’t know what about it, it just is.
b. I love her red lips.
d. I hate this smile but the other reminds me of my mother’s smile.
c. It just reminds me of my mother’s smile for me to find it sexually attractive.

3)
a. I can’t help but look at the eyes with this smile and it is very sexy.
b. Her eyes also help this smile.
c./d. A tie because they both look happy, and not sexually attractive.

4)
a. She could get me to buy anything that she wants if she smiled at me like that.
b. It does not look face like the other two.
c. I like the facial structure around the smile.
d. Her smile scares me.

5)
c. If a woman smiled at me like that I would know that she is happy to see me.
a. The is something very appealing about that smile.
d. I just like this smile better than the other choice.
b. It seems as if she is forcing herself to smile.

6)
a. I am in love.
c. Very attractive.
b. It is ok.
c. It is a nice smile but not a sexually attractive smile.

7)
d. Now there is a woman that you know is happy to see you.
a. Her lips just seem so moist and lush.
b. Sorry has something to do with the eyes.
c. Her smile just seems forced.

8)
d. Reminds me of my girlfriend’s smile.
a. Oh Baby!
b. Nice, very Nice!
c. Show a little bit of teeth please.

9)
a. This is a very sexy smile, almost coy as if she is up to something.
d. I like the full smile, showing parts of the cheek.
e. Nice definition of the cheek area.
b. She looks as she is forcing the smile.

10)
b. I just love a simple smile.
a. It is not too complicated.
c. Still very nice.
d. I did not like this smile.

Women: Question Two

Rate these smiles in order of their sexual attractiveness and explain the rating.

1)
b. Eyes are laughing- Large inviting smile.
a. The Eyes are intriguing.
c. Mouth is big but can’t see the eyes.
d. Did not rate

2)
b. Nicest, most open smile.
c. Did not rate
d. “
a. “

3)
c. Laughing – easy going
a. “A trip to mess with”
d. Kind eyes
b Looks funny

4)
b. Really happy, having a good time.
d. Less eyes- Hard to tell.
c. Just wants to have fun.
a. Creepy- Not smiling.

5)
c. Dark eyes, nice teeth, laugh lines on eyes.
b. Dimples, Laugh lines.
d. Dimples, Laugh lines, nice lips.
a. Light eyes, too serious.

6)
b. Looks friendly
d. Friendly but cute and shy.
c. Did not rate.
a. Looks like he has evil thoughts might be hiding something.

7)
d. Way he’s smiling- He’s nice but not pretentious, really genuine.
c. Don Johnson face shape…
b. Did not rate.
a. Not smiling- less genuine, front of “intensity and soulfulness”

8)
b. Most open.
c. Did not rate.
d. Not real.
a. Too serious.

9)
c. Funny – happy, positive qualities
a. Eyes – draw you in.
b. Nice smile but eyes looking off somewhere.
d. Looks uncomfortable.

10)
a. Most genuine.
b. Smile is overzealous.
c. All seem false.
d. Can’t see the eyes

Most the respondents spoke of a person’s smile as being attractive because it indicated whether he or she would be friendly and approachable. A smile inferred a genuine, honest and likeable individual. The type of smile most definitely played a role in relating sexual intent. For the men, upon seeing the lip-in smile for instance, most of them instantly associated it with sex. The more open, and happy smiles made the female subject attractive, but did not relay her intent as being sexual. For the women, the lip-in smile was also deemed attractive, but there seemed to be a preference for the open, happy smiles.

b. Statistic pages and graphs

NUMERICAL RESULTS FOR GENERAL SURVEY 1 (FIRST EXPERIMENT)
Note: These results are split solely by gender. See appendix for statistics split by campus.

1. What is your gender?
Men: 55 Women: 45

2. Do you smile frequently at strangers of the sex that you are the most attracted to?

Yes No Total
Men 45 82% 10 18% 55
Women 36 80% 9 20% 45
Totals 81 19 100

P-Value = 0.8176 –Not significantly different

3. Do you enjoy receiving smiles from strangers of the sex that you are the most attracted to?
Yes No Totals
Men 51 93% 4 7% 55
Women 43 96% 2 4% 45
Totals 94 2 100

P-Value = 0.5535 –Not significantly different

4. Do you smile frequently at strangers of the sex that you are not/ are the least attracted to?

Yes No Totals
Men 24 44% 31 56% 55
Women 29 64% 16 36% 45
Totals 53 47 100

P-Value = 0.0381 –SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT

5. Do you enjoy receiving smiles from strangers of the sex that you are not/ are the least attracted to?

Yes No Totals
Men 34 62% 21 38% 55
Women 35 78% 10 22% 45
Totals 69 31 100

P-Value = 0.0860 –Not significantly different

6. Does a "nice smile" increase a potential mate’s attractiveness?

Yes No Totals
Men 53 96% 2 4% 55
Women 44 98% 1 2% 45
Totals 97 3 100

P-Value = 0.6800 –Not significantly different

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