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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

the resulting expression looks more like a grimace than a<br />

smile. In more extreme situations the corners <strong>of</strong> the mouth<br />

may momentarily be drawn down, thereby incorporating<br />

fleeting evidence <strong>of</strong> the fear-face into the smile. In these<br />

and other ways, the smile may reveal what lies behind its<br />

facade, and therefore what someone is really feeling.<br />

It has been found that women smile much more than<br />

men. 14 This may have something to do with the subordinate<br />

position that women occupy in society, although<br />

it doesn't explain why baby girls smile more than baby<br />

boys as early as two months. Investigations <strong>of</strong> the portrait<br />

photographs in school yearbooks show that as they get<br />

older, girls continue to smile more than boys, and that the<br />

difference is most pronounced after puberty. When<br />

women occupy positions <strong>of</strong> power they don't automatically<br />

abandon their smiling habits in favour <strong>of</strong> men's.<br />

It's been discovered that women who are in high-power<br />

roles don't smile any less than women in low-power roles,<br />

but that men who are in high-power roles do smile far less<br />

than those in low-power roles. Testosterone plays a part<br />

here, because men with high levels <strong>of</strong> testosterone tend to<br />

produce smaller smiles, with less activity round the mouth<br />

and eyes, whereas men with low levels <strong>of</strong> testosterone<br />

smile more frequently and produce larger smiles. 13<br />

<strong>The</strong>se differences are reflected in the inferences that<br />

people draw on the basis <strong>of</strong> smiling. When men and<br />

women smile, they are both seen as happy, contented and<br />

relaxed. Unsmiling men, on the other hand, are seen as<br />

dominant, whereas unsmiling women are simply seen<br />

as being unhappy. <strong>The</strong>se inferences may have something<br />

to do with the fact that women smile much more than<br />

men, so that while an unsmiling man appears to be fairly<br />

92

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