What if I told you that you could feel better in 5 seconds? And not only that: You don’t need any money or equipment.

It may sound too good to be true, but it’s backed by scientific studies, including a recent one with almost 4,000 participants from 19 countries.

In this newsletter edition, we’ll cover some fascinating research about how your facial posture could influence how you feel.

How it all began

In a scientific study from 1988, the researchers divided their participants into two groups:

• One group held a pen between their lips.

• The other group held a pen between their teeth, resembling a smiling face.

Here’s what it looked like:

While participants were holding the pen, they looked at cartoons and rated how amusing they found them.

The result?

The second group with the pen between their teeth (the smile-like posture) found the cartoons funnier than the first group, where the pen between the lips prevented smiling.

The results support the Facial Feedback Hypothesis—the idea that your facial posture influences how you feel.

These findings sparked significant interest in the scientific community.

Where we are today

Many scientists tried to replicate the findings of the 1988 study; that is, they conducted similar studies to see if they'd get the same results. Some, but not all, found support for the Facial Feedback Hypothesis.

The mixed results inspired a large team of researchers to test the hypothesis in a big, culturally diverse sample. They conducted the experiment during the pandemic and published their results in 2022.

The specific question they tested was whether participants’ facial posture influenced their feelings of happiness.

The researchers randomly assigned each participant to one of three possible groups:

• Group 1 saw a photo on screen and was asked to imitate the smile in the photo.

• Group 2 was asked to pose a smile, but didn't see a photo of a smiling person.

• Group 3 was asked to hold a pen between their teeth, as in the original 1988 study.

After completing this task, participants filled out a happiness questionnaire.

The researchers found support for the Facial Feedback Hypothesis: Facial pose increased the participants’ feelings of happiness. The effect was largest in groups 1 and 2, and smaller in group 3.

I once tested the original pen task with a group of ~30 students in the classroom, asking half to hold a pen between their lips and the other half to hold it between their teeth, and to rate the funniness of some cartoons I presented to them.

The result? The pen-between-teeth group found the cartoons funnier than the pen-between-lips group. Even though it was just a classroom demonstration instead of a controlled experiment, it worked. Pretty cool!

Returning to the big 2022 study, the effects were obtained after only 5 seconds of posing a smile, and they were even bigger for participants who had guessed the hypothesis behind the study (i.e., “posing a smile should make me feel happier”) than those who were unaware of it.

In other words, knowing the idea behind the study didn't diminish the results; it even increased the effects.

What it means for you

Facial feedback works. Posing a smile for 5 seconds can instantly make you feel better.

Some internet influencers tell you to smile at yourself in the mirror every morning to start a successful day.

From a scientific perspective, we cannot yet say how long the effect of posing a smile lasts, so it hasn’t yet made its way into science-backed morning routines. Plus: The effect is small. It won’t turn your frustration into euphoria.

But at least we know that smiling triggers an immediate change, making it another ‘hack’ in your toolkit for whenever you need to shift to more positive feelings.

So, next time you need a quick mood boost, try posing a smile for 5 seconds and observe what happens!

That’s it for today!

And now?

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Until next time!

Best wishes,

Patricia (Dr. Schmidt) from creatorschmidt.com.