The Definitive Book of Body Language - Barbara Pease [26]
A false smile often appears stronger on one side of the face than the other, as both sides of the brain attempt to make it appear genuine. The half of the brain's cortex that specializes in facial expressions is in the right hemisphere and sends signals mainly to the left side of the body. As a result, false facial emotions are more pronounced on the left side of the face than the right. In a real smile, both brain hemispheres instruct each side of the face to act with symmetry.
When liars lie, the left side of the smile is
usually more pronounced than the right
Smugglers Smile Less
We were commissioned by Australian Customs, in 1986, to help create a program to increase the number of seizures of illegal contraband and drugs being smuggled into Australia. Until that time, it had been assumed by law enforcement officers that liars increased their frequency of smiling when they were lying or under pressure. Our analysis of film of people who were intentionally told to lie showed the opposite—when the liars lied, they smiled less or not at all, regardless of culture. People who were innocent and telling the truth increased their smiling frequency when being honest. Because smiling is rooted in submission, the innocent people were attempting to appease their accusers, while the professional liars were reducing their smiles and other body signals. It's the same as when a police car pulls up next to you at traffic lights—even though you haven't broken the law, the presence of the police is enough to make you feel guilty and start smiling. This highlights how fake smiling is controlled and should always be considered in the context of where it occurs.
Five Common Types of Smiles
What follows is a summary and an analysis of the common types of smiles that you're likely to see every day:
1. The Tight-Lipped Smile
The lips are stretched tight across the face to form a straight line and the teeth are concealed. It sends the message that the smiler has a secret or a withheld opinion or attitude that they will not be sharing with you. It's a favorite of women who don't want to reveal that they don't like someone and is usually clearly read by other women as a rejection signal. Most men are oblivious to it.
The Tight-Lipped Smile shows she has a
secret and won't be sharing it with you
For example, one woman might say of another woman, “She's a very capable woman who knows what she wants,” followed by a Tight-Lipped Smile, rather than saying what she was really thinking: “I think she's an aggressive, pushy bitch!” The Tight-Lipped Smile is also seen in magazine pictures of successful businessmen who are communicating, “I've got the secrets of success and you've got to try and guess what they are.” In these interviews, the men have a tendency to talk about principles of success, but rarely do they reveal the exact details of how they succeeded. Conversely, Richard Branson is always seen sporting a wide toothy smile and is happy to explain the exact details of his success because he knows that most people won't do it anyway.
Tony and Cherie Blair were “tight-lipped” about Cherie's last pregnancy
2. The Twisted Smile
This smile shows opposite emotions on each side of the face. In picture A below, the right brain raises the left-side eyebrow, the left zygomatic muscles, and left cheek to produce one type of smile on the left side of the face, while the left brain pulls the same muscles downward on the right side to produce an angry frown. When you place a mirror down the middle of illustration A, at an angle of 90 degrees to reflect each side of the face, you produce two completely different faces with opposite emotions. Mirroring the right side of the face reveals picture B, which has a cheesy grin, while mirroring the left side reveals picture C, an angry frown.
The Twisted Smile is peculiar to the Western world and can only be done deliberately, which means it can send only one message—sarcasm.
3. The Drop-Jaw Smile
This