Why a sMile is MOre than a sMile
R
omantics everywhere may be happy to hear why the
adage, “Smile and the whole world smiles with you,”
holds true—at least according to a psychological study
which proved just seeing a smile activates the muscles in
our face that make that expression, even if we’re unaware
of it. The psychologists further discovered that positive
emotion words, such as “laugh” or “funny,” also influence
our facial muscle activity, as well as our judgement.
In the experiment, volunteers were subliminally
shown emotion verbs and adjectives while watching cartoons. Half of the partici-
pants held a pen to their lips to prevent them from smiling, while the remaining
group did not have their facial muscles blocked. The results revealed that volun-
teers found cartoons to be funnier when they were preceded by smiling-related
the Mystery Of
verbs rather than frowning-related verbs. More, those who had been free to smile
while watching the cartoons judged them more positively.
attraCtiOn
Source: Association for Psychological Science, 2009
t
urns out it’s true that when
it comes to choosing a mate,
women are as complicated as
A crush on garlic
men claim they are, say psy-
chologists who have tested how
W
hen it comes to protecting heart health, freshly
women evaluate a man’s facial
crushed garlic works better than garlic supple-
attractiveness. they discovered
ments or dried garlic. New research published by the
specifics of masculine appeal on
American Chemical Society explains that the heart-healthy effects of raw, crushed
two levels—a sexual level based
garlic result from hydrogen sulfide, a chemical that forms when fresh garlic is cut
on individual features like jaw-
or smashed; when eaten, the hydrogen sulfide relaxes blood vessels, allowing for
bone, cheekbone and lips; and a
better flowing of blood to the heart.
nonsexual level based on over-
all attractiveness or aesthetics.
New clue to love
the Penn state psycholo-
gists showed 50 female college
at First sight
students images of a variety
of male faces, some of which
L
eave it to genetics (and pairs of fruit flies) to an-
swer a question that has perplexed humanity since
were split horizontally with up-
the dawn of science. An American and Australian
per and lower halves shifted in
research team has found that, before mating, female
opposite directions, and then
fruit flies experience a biochemical state that amounts
asked them to rate what they
to “genetic priming,” making them more likely to
saw as both hypothetical dates
mate with certain males over others—research that
and hypothetical lab partners.
sheds a bit more light on the complexities of mating and reproduction.
most women chose the whole
faces as lab partners and the
Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 2009 male split faces as dates.
it appears that seeing a
man’s whole face enabled the
ChOCOlate CalMs eMOtiOns
women to evaluate him more
chocolate can indeed assuage emotional stress,
on a nonsexual basis. when the
face was split, their way of pro-
according to a new clinical trial. researchers re-
cessing a male face was based
porting to the American chemical society found
on a purely sexual perspective.
that “highly stressed” volunteers, eating about an
the study concluded that, for
ounce-and-a-half (about 40 grams) of dark choco-
women, while attractiveness
late a day for two weeks, experienced reduced lev-
appears to be perceived on
els of stress hormones. the chocolate even partially
the whole, they find sexiness
corrected other stress-related biochemical imbal-
can exist in parts of a potential
ances by modifying metabolism. mate’s face.
Pr i n t e d o n re c y c l e d Pa P e r t o Pr o t e c t t h e en v i r o n m e n t
February 2010 15
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