Here’s a scenario we all have encountered. We are talking with someone who is clearly stressed out. They are describing things that are happening to them and it sounds like a country song; the boss is treating them poorly, their family doesn’t understand and their favorite sports team hasn’t won in a week. But despite the trials and travails they describe they smile the whole time.

Or perhaps you have been on a date with someone who is fidgeting and bouncing their leg like a jackhammer with a smile plastered on their face. What is up with people who do this?

Are they disguising their real feelings or are they just smiling as a way of to trying to manage their stress.

A study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin suggests that we smile when nervous as a means of managing our stress more than as an attempt to disguise our true feelings. Matthew Ansfield from Lawrence University videotaped 80 men and 80 women while they watched videos with disturbing content. As the material became more disturbing in content participants reported feeling more stress. And they tended to smile more frequently. But the more they smiled while watching the video the less distress they reported after the video was over.

This may suggest that smiling does in fact work to calm us when stressed. Smiling may also reflect an attempt to hide feelings from others. Ansfield did find participants smiled less if they watched the video alone. However, he presents a strong argument that the primary reason we smile when under stress is to help us cope. So we don’t need to spend too much time wondering what someone is really thinking when they seem to smile at the wrong time. They are probably just trying to stay calm.

Further Reading:

Ansfield, M.E. (2007). Smiling when distressed: When a smile is a frown turned upside down. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 763-775.