Big smiles, longer lives?

If you're always the one in the photo flashing the biggest smile, a new study suggests you can count on living a long life. Researchers from Wayne State University in Detroit evaluated the photographs of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950, rating their smiles as nonexistent to full.
"People who had the most intense smiles lived the longest, compared to the other two," said Ernest L. Abel, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of psychology at Wayne State.
"The more intense smile, we infer, indicates an underlying happiness, if you will, a more positive attitude," he said. "It's hard to fake an intense smile."
The researchers gathered other information potentially linked with longevity from a longstanding data base on the players, such as college attendance, marital status, birth year and body-mass index. They asked reviewers who didn't know the study's purpose to rate the player's smiles as a 1, 2, or 3, with 1 being no smile, 2 a partial, and 3, a broad full smile, the kind that makes your eyes crinkle.
As of June 1, 2009, all but 46 players had died, and they looked back to see if the smile intensity in photos was linked with longer life. It was. On average, the longevity of the non-smilers was 72.9, 75 for the partial smilers and 79.9 for the big smilers.
The study was recently published in Psychological Science Online First. The big smilers had what is known as a Duchenne smile, named after the French neurologist who discovered it. Cheeks and the corners of the mouth are raised, and crows-feet wrinkles appear around the eyes. The new research builds on previous studies that linked smile intensity in childhood and college yearbook photos with marriage stability or life satisfaction later.
The study findings make sense to Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and a happiness researcher who wrote The How of Happiness. "Most likely, the smiles are an indicator of the baseball players' dispositions," she said. The smiles could be reflecting happiness, optimism or resilience, she said.

Medical News Today

Big smiles, longer lives?

If youre always the one in the photo flashing the biggest smile, a new study suggests you can count on living a long life. Researchers from Wayne State University in Detroit evaluated the photographs of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950, rating their smiles as nonexistent to full. People who had the most intense smiles lived the longest, compared to the other two, said Ernest L. Abel, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of psychology at Wayne State. The more intense smile, we infer, indicates an underlying happiness, if you will, a more positive attitude, he said. Its hard to fake an intense smile. The researchers gathered other information potentially linked with longevity from a longstanding data base on the players, such as college attendance, marital status, birth year and body-mass index. They asked reviewers who didnt know the studys purpose to rate the players smiles as a 1, 2, or 3, with 1 being no smile, 2 a partial, and 3, a broad full smile, the kind that makes your eyes crinkle. As of June 1, 2009, all but 46 players had died, and they looked back to see if the smile intensity in photos was linked with longer life. It was. On average, the longevity of the non-smilers was 72.9, 75 for the partial smilers and 79.9 for the big smilers. The study was recently published in Psychological Science Online First. The big smilers had what is known as a Duchenne smile, named after the French neurologist who discovered it. Cheeks and the corners of the mouth are raised, and crows-feet wrinkles appear around the eyes. The new research builds on previous studies that linked smile intensity in childhood and college yearbook photos with marriage stability or life satisfaction later. The study findings make sense to Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and a happiness researcher who wrote The How of Happiness. Most likely, the smiles are an indicator of the baseball players dispositions, she said. The smiles could be reflecting happiness, optimism or resilience, she said. Medical News Today