Speakers smiled more when listeners smiled more, especially in conversations between two individuals of the same-sex — men smiled more when talking to other men who smiled, and women smiled more when talking to other women who smiled.
This is according to a study — “The other person’s smiling amount affects one’s smiling response during face-to-face conversations” by Yota Obayashi, Shintaro Uehara, Akiko Yuasa and Yohei Otaka — that was published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
In this study, the researchers tapped 40 participants (20 men and 20 women) in three-minute, face-to-face conversations. During these interactions, listeners were asked to smile at different levels — lesser, moderate, and greater — and the speakers’ smiles were observed in response. A specialized software was used to measure the intensity and frequency of the smiles during the conversations.
Key findings included:
- Speakers smiled more when listeners smiled more, especially in conversations between two individuals of the same-sex — men smiled more when talking to other men who smiled, and women smiled more when talking to other women who smiled.
- This effect was less pronounced in mixed-sex conversations, suggesting that individuals did not show the same level of mutual smiling as they did when conversing with same-sex partners. However, the researchers speculate that in mixed-sex pairs, the speakers smiled more often than the listeners in order to build interpersonal relationship.
- The more the listener smiled, the more positive the speaker felt about the interaction. Speakers reported feeling friendlier and enjoying the conversation more when their partner smiled frequently. This highlights the emotional importance of smiling in conversations, as it enhances feelings of connection and rapport between individuals.
- Smile synchronization occurred consistently across all types of pairs — both same-sex and mixed-sex. This implies that, regardless of who was talking to whom, people smiled simultaneously, reinforcing that smiling is a reciprocal behavior.
Explaining the findings, Otaka said that “if one smiles more during a conversation, the other person will also smile more, which can lead to a better interpersonal relationship with each other.”
For the researchers, smiling is a powerful, dynamic part of face-to-face conversations. Speakers’ smiles are influenced by how much and how intensely the listener smiles, particularly in conversations between individuals of the same-sex. Also, smile synchronization is essential in creating social bonds and fostering positive feelings during interactions.
“These findings emphasize the importance of nonverbal communication, especially facial expressions, in everyday conversations,” the researchers stated, adding that “this study suggests that the interaction between two individuals can be helpful in assessing dementia and psychological dysfunctions.”
