4Havo, vocabulary 3rd term
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Last updated almost 4 years ago
30 questions
Note from the author:
Voor Tom!
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Lees eerst vraag 21 tot en met 24. Gebruik vervolgens onderstaande tekst om de vragen te beantwoorden.
Can smiling really make you happier?
Those of us with a naturally serious expression may be fed up with people telling us, ‘Smile, it might never happen’. However, it does seem that smiling, even when we don’t feel particularly happy, can actually improve our mood.
This isn’t a new idea. In fact, it was back in the 1870s that Charles Darwin first suggested that expressions didn’t just express emotions, but could actually trigger them. Since then there have been a number of studies into the area, all appearing to show that changing our facial expressions can change our mood.
In 1989, for example, the psychologist Robert Zajonc described how those taking part in one of his experiments were asked to make a long ‘e’ sound, which involves smiling, felt better than those asked to make a long ‘u’ sound. Other similar experiments, with similar results, were carried out using pencils gripped between the teeth.
In another experiment, the participants were asked to do one of three things.
- Look at pictures showing different expressions.
- Copy the expressions shown in the pictures.
- Copy the expressions shown in the pictures while looking in a mirror.
They were asked questions before and after the experiment, designed to find out about their emotions. Interestingly, those who saw themselves smile were happier than those who only smiled. Both groups were happier than those who didn’t smile but simply looked at pictures.
The key question is why smiling makes us feel happier. It might simply be because the brain connects smiling with being happy, a kind of learned response. The fact that people who saw themselves smiling felt happier than those who just smiled would support this theory.
However, there may be another explanation. Robert Zajonc’s latest theory is that smiling affects the flow of blood to the brain, and that this has an effect on how we feel. Zajonc explains that when the temperature of any part of the body goes up or down, this changes chemical activities in that part of the body. When the brain is cooler, he says, our emotions are more positive, and when it’s hotter, they are more negative. Smiling causes muscles to reduce blood supply to the brain, and less volume means that the temperature goes down. This has the effect of cooling the brain, and thus makes us feel happier.
On the other hand, when we frown angrily, blood flow to the brain is increased, which raises the temperature and makes us feel more anxious or negative.
Fascinatingly, our language reflects this theory. We talk about getting hot under the collar, or that something made our blood boil when we feel angry. If we need someone to calm down, we might tell them to ‘chill out’.
In the end, though, whether Zajonc is right or wrong, there is certainly plenty of evidence that smiling can and does make you feel happier. So ‘give us a smile, love’.
