The next time someone asks you to smile for a photograph, perhaps you should reconsider if you want to look younger.
A new study called “The effects of smiling on perceived age defy belief” shows that smiling can make you appear two years older than when you're face is neutral. The study also found that a surprised expression has the opposite effect, and can make you younger.
Researchers conducted tests by flashing images of people with smiling, neutral and surprised expressions. Participants perceived the surprised faces as the youngest and smiling faces as the oldest.
“The striking thing was that when we asked participants afterwards about their perceptions, they erroneously recalled that they had identified smiling faces as the youngest ones,” said study co-author Melvyn Goodale, director of the Brain and Mind Institute at Western University, in a news release. “They were completely blind to the fact they had aged the happy-looking faces. Their perceptions and their beliefs were polar opposites.”
Goodale said the wrinkles that form around the eyes during a smile, changes a person's perception about age. However, a look of surprise smoothes any wrinkles, resulting in the opposite perception occurring.
The study was recently published in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin and Review and is also co-authored Tzvi Ganel from Ben-Gurion University.