Did you know that a smile can be used to convey many and different kinds of inner feelings. From big and broad smiles to enchanting smiles, from polite courteous smiles to fake smiles, from shy smiles to lopsided uneven smiles. Many nuances of emotion can actually be displayed by this simple gesture.
A recent research has identified the three main kinds of smile, each on its own connoting a different type of emotion. With a little practice, it is possible to distinguish between the Heartfelt Smile, the Gloomy Smile and the Counterfeit Smile as they all need different use of facial muscles to be performed.
1 The Heartfelt Smile
This is known as the straight from the heart, genuine and sincere smile. The true and impulsive feelings of pure joy, gladness, happiness, amusement and pleasure are spontaneously expressed through this smile.
The facial muscles will raise the corners of the mouth, while both the cheeks will be lifted up and at the same time retracting the skin around the eye socket inwards. The stronger the emotion gets, the more distinct this muscle action will become. This heartfelt smile normally only last between two-thirds of a second to four seconds and it is very seldom held longer than that.
Basically this kind of smile is divided into three categories that consist of the simple smile, the upper smile and the broad smile. The simple smile will appear when the mouth turns up while the lips remained closed. It denotes a personal private pleasure and it is most often seen when people are smiling to themselves.
The upper teeth are usually exposed during the upper smile. Combined with a simultaneous eye contact, this is the most common smile used by people when greeting one another. As for the broad smile, both the upper and lower sets of teeth will be exposed, this smile will normally grow broader and broader until it becomes a laugh. Eye contact is very minimal during this type of smile.
2 The Gloomy Smile
This type of smile can be easily defined by its asymmetrical, lopsided and wry shape. Half the mouth will look like smiling while the other half frowning at the same time. This smile is usually displayed in front of others by someone who is conceding failure, defeat or unhappiness.
3 The Counterfeit Smile
A counterfeit smile is also more asymmetrical compared to a sincere and genuine smile, and it is an intentional gesture performed to mislead and deceive others. This kind of fake smile usually last longer than a heartfelt smile, and more time is needed for it to spread across the face.
Many examples of the counterfeit smile can be seen from the faces of inexperienced actors, shady politicians, dishonest salesmen and all those other people whose job requires smiling all the time.
So how do you actually distinguish and differentiate a counterfeit smile from a genuine straight from the heart smile? The most noticeable giveaway is from the eyes, which will squint, crinkle up and becomes narrower when the smile actually comes from the heart genuinely. On the contrary, the eyes will remain the same and unaffected when someone is smiling falsely to hide away negative emotions. Always start by observing the corner of the eyes for smile lines, and then check closely at the mouth area for a raised upper lip and a flat square lower lip.
Most people will be able to notice and sense the discordant expressions between a real heartfelt smile and a fake counterfeit smile. A fake smile will only be able to cover up the negative emotions for a short period of time, for it creates an uneasy and constrained feeling within the observer who may instinctively know that something is wrong and amiss. The fact is when someone is truly smiling from the heart, the facial muscles around the eyes cannot be brought under conscious control by the mind, thus making the mouth the only part which can lie.