For decades, psychology and its researchers have focused on the negative side of humanity — the things that bring dysfunction into our lives. Depression, sadness, anxiety, you name it. More recently, psychologists have also begun to better understand the value of positive emotions too. This understanding has resulted in a new field of research called “positive psychology” or “happiness research.”
So how do we recognize a positive emotion? Or put more simply, “What’s in a smile?”
A new paper just published by Disa Sauter (2010) helps us answer this question.
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This is very interesting, the smile is so complex & facinating.
I was just watching some excellent acting in a Cop Show I noticed a lot of evil smiles too, gloating criminals.
Laughing at a joke is also (always?)a bit aggressive/at someone elses expense: “I’m showing my teeth, I might eat you!” maybe? (being an artist not a scientist I like to think it’s my job to speculate more freely).