Genuine smiles versus false smiles

[GrownupGirl]

The boy's smile on the right looks genuine. The one on the left looks almost like he's in pain.

I guess this means I'm not really aspie, then.

I can tell what most expressions are in photos and how genuine they are, but it's different in photos because you have time to look at them and process what you're seeing. In real life most expression are here and gone in a flash, and when I was a kid I used to think people in real life didn't show expressions, they only had them in movies and TV.

Someone once asked me why I'm able to make the characters I draw so expressive if I'm aspie. It's mainly because of watching well-animated cartoons, especially Disney. It also took years of practice.

 

[Progster]

I agree that with the first set of pictures that the one on the right looks a bit more relaxed and less forced, but I'm really not very good these things. I couldn't tell at all for the second picture and suspect that it might be a trick question as @Fino suggests. I know the theory that you can tell a genuine smile by the crinkling of the eyes, but can't tell without looking at them in detail and thinking about it, a luxury that is not afforded to me in conversation, or at least, not without an uncomfortable stare.

 

[Ylva]

My fake smile is terrifying.

Mine too!

Which is genuine?

Which is genuine?

They're all fake.

 

[Ken S.]

Personally for me it has never been about the smile, more to do with voice patterns, body language and mannerisms. It isn't hard for me to tell a fake nice person from a genuinely nice person. I can even make predictions by them with about 90% accuracy by just spending three to five minutes with a person. I can/have been occasionally be fooled as nobody is infallible.

 

[Clueless in Canada]

I look to see if I can see a smile in the eyes to determine if the smile is genuine, but in real time I don't know for sure how much I take in. I tend to focus on tone of voice more than facial expressions, unless the person is not looking at me and then I can stare and study them.

 

[Pats]

That's very interesting. I remember when my niece was a baby and I used to say how her whole face smiles. And I've always been more attracted to that person when they seem to smile with their eyes - the crows feet smile. They just always seemed happy and friendly and more sincere. Now I know why. That's actually the only smile I really recognize. (Maybe, again, it's because I look at the eyes and not the rest of the face.)

 

[Mia]

When photographs are taken, it's often quite difficult to discern what is a forced smile and a real one. As far as the photographs, the young boy on the right has more of a genuine smile. And the young girl on the left has a more genuine facial expression, according to scientists.

In a sense @Ylva is correct in deciding that all the smiles are forced as people usually do that in photographs. I think all the smiles are in some way cajoled in these photographs, the only one that seems natural is the young girl on the left, who seems to have been caught in a surprising way. Although she also seems aware that she is being photographed.

 

[Judge]

One thing that fascinates me is how different the physiology of a person's mouth movements can be. Not only in smiling, but in any other expression or lack thereof. On television I see people all the time who seem quite normal with the mouth hanging wide open to a point where you can see all their upper teeth. Made worse with relatively blank expressions. Worse still if they inadvertently catch insects.

Then there are others like myself where they barely open their mouths at all unless they are speaking distinctly. I can't imagine how exaggerated I must appear to smile so broadly that both my upper and lower teeth all show. It simply ain't gonna happen!

Cameraman: "What's the matter with you boy? Ya got lockjaw or something?"
Me: "Something like that."

 

[Ken S.]

I can't imagine how exaggerated I must appear to smile so broadly that both my upper and lower teeth all show. It simply ain't gonna happen!

Me Too!! Only because I keep my teeth in a case and only use them when eating.

 

[Fino]

When photographs are taken, it's often quite difficult to discern what is a forced smile and a real one. As far as the photographs, the young boy on the right has more of a genuine smile. And the young girl on the left has a more genuine facial expression, according to scientists.

Now that you've told me that, it seems that it's obviously that, but the second "genuine" one is still a bit creepy.

 

[BlueSky Aozora]

I don't look at people's faces for very long, only enough to gauge their 'on the surface' moods. So, often I miss the difference between a genuine smile and a fake one. If I really want to know, I will look intently for a real smile. The sort that a child has, before society enacts it's toll on the individual.
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Ever noticed how there are basically two types of smiles: a genuine smile and a fake one?
This distinction has been of interest to researchers for quite sometime now. In fact, the genuine smile has a name. It's called the "Duchenne smile," named after the French physician Guillaume Duchenne, who studied the physiology of facial expressions in the nineteenth century.

The Duchenne smile involves both voluntary and involuntary contraction from two muscles: the zygomatic major (raising the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi (raising the cheeks and producing crow's feet around the eyes).

A fake smile or, as I like to call it, a "Say Cheese" smile involves the contraction of just the zygomatic major since we cannot voluntarily contract the orbicularis oculi muscle.

Scientists have discovered that these two types of smiles are actually controlled by two completely different parts of our brain.

When a patient with damage to the motor cortex on the brain's left hemisphere attempts to smile, the smile is asymmetrical, with the right side of the smile not moving as it should. However, when that same patient spontaneously laughs, the smile is normal with no asymmetry. This means that the genuine smile is controlled by some other part of the brain.

Now, when a patient with damage to the anterior cingulate (part of the limbic system) in the left hemisphere attempts to smile, there is no asymmetry. The smile is normal. However, when that same patient tries to smile spontaneously, the asymmetry appears.

Thus, the Say Cheese smile is controlled by the motor cortex while emotion-related movements, like the Duchenne smile, is controlled by the limbic system (the emotional center of the brain).
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/...-science-has-say-about-genuine-vs-fake-smiles

Video vaguely related to the article:

https://petapixel.com/2014/09/14/can-spot-fake-smile-photograph/

How are you personally at deciding whether a smile is genuine or false?

Speaking about smiles, i always feel that people have genuine smiles when they are with other people (maybe people who have the same way of thinking/socializing like them)...

..But when with me, the smiles turn to somewhat polite smiles.. I dont know how i see the differences. But you can feel the difference, after a while. Obviously they were much happier with others, compared with me.

This always makes me feel guilty and sad. Like i should have done better or be more cheerful, like it's better if other people be with them instead of me.

What a gloomy person! No wonder their smiles become a fake or polite smiles

 

[onlything]

You can see it only in the eyes. The polite smile will never have as much 'eye-smile' as the true one, not as much sincerity. Although, you can't always recognise just on that account. From my experience, some people have such a great proficiency at smiling that their fake smiles look almost as real as anyone else's real smile. You can recognise the difference only if you've seen them being truly happy - since there is always that miniscule difference in the eyes. Still, if you never saw a person's true smile and laugh, you may not be able to recognise if the 'fake real' smile is real or not.

It's like with sneezing, laughing and giggling. I know people who make themselves sound in a specific way on purpose to be seen differently, either more charming or more cute etc. The unrestrained sneeze, laugh and giggle are completely different than the 'trained' ones but you won't recognise it unless you heard the default sounds.

 

[Aspychata]

l learned now to do fake smile because my job requires that l greet customers. So to save my energy, l zip out my fake smile and fake happy voice, but l think customers are more focused on what they need, so they don't judge, they want to know can find, buy product or get help finding similar without be harrassed with hardsell tactics.

 

[Ylva]

Still, if you never saw a person's true smile and laugh, you may not be able to recognise if the 'fake real' smile is real or not.

As someone who lacks the relevant experience on account of only looking at people to make them feel noticed and not to study them, I will say that fake smiles are tenser and more fixed. The attention is on their own facial expression and not on whatever you are saying, so if you insert a sad story it will take them extra time to stop smiling if they notice at all.

Fixed smiles are something I see whenever I have to deal with social workers, who through no fault of their own feel that they must force themselves to smile at people they don't know and who'd be less freaked out by them if they'd refrain.

 

[onlything]

As someone who lacks the relevant experience on account of only looking at people to make them feel noticed and not to study them, I will say that fake smiles are tenser and more fixed. The attention is on their own facial expression and not on whatever you are saying, so if you insert a sad story it will take them extra time to stop smiling if they notice at all.

Fixed smiles are something I see whenever I have to deal with social workers, who through no fault of their own feel that they must force themselves to smile at people they don't know and who'd be less freaked out by them if they'd refrain.

For some workplaces, a smile is literally a part of the uniform. Which, in my opinion, is rather creepy.

 

[Mia]

Where I live, some indigenous families move to the area to further their children's education. As often in remote communities there is only elementary school offered in these communities.

Most families don't smile at all when they first move here, except in circumstances where they are actually happy during a pow wow. Eventually though the children begin to learn to smile artificially, to be pleasing to adults, and they learn very quickly. The way's of the world are sad really.

 

[tree]

One place I worked I got so tired of people saying "Smile" to me
(my desk was in a high traffic area, a clear walled goldfish bowl setup)
that I made a smile on a stick. Drew a smile on a paper plate, stapled
it to a piece of cardboard. Held it up when the *encouragers* were
passing by.

It went over surprisingly well.

 

[Progster]

One place I worked I got so tired of people saying "Smile" to me
(my desk was in a high traffic area, a clear walled goldfish bowl setup)
that I made a smile on a stick. Drew a smile on a paper plate, stapled
it to a piece of cardboard. Held it up when the *encouragers* were
passing by.

It went over surprisingly well.

just reading this produced from me a very broad and genuine smile

 

[Fade2black]

As an Aspie, I wouldn't get too caught up in what we think are real and fake smiles. As part of my diagnosis, it included evaluating facial expressions, despite thinking I was good at facial expressions, I could not accurately distinguish between fake and real smiles, nor could I recognize the difference between grief and happiness, empathy or pretty much any other facial expression. In fact, the only facial expression I was consistent in recognizing, was anger.

 

[tree]

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