This study suggests that smiles, along with other facial expressions, are innate and not learned behavior:
The researchers compared the facial expressions from more than 4,800 photographs of sighted and blind judo athletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games. The analyses showed sighted and blind individuals modified their expressions of emotion in the same way in accordance with the social context. For example, in the Paralympics, the athletes competed in a series of elimination rounds so that the final round of two athletes ended in the winner taking home a gold medal while the loser got a silver medal. The blind silver medalists who lost their final matches tended to produce “social smiles” during the medal ceremonies. Social smiles use only the mouth muscles. True smiles, known as Duchenne smiles, cause the eyes to twinkle and narrow and the cheeks to rise.
It seems to me that this analysis ignores the possibility that facial expressions, particularly those of social utility, aren’t learned exclusively through visual mimicry. For instance, our literature is full of references to fake smiles which only engage the mouth. A blind person would likely be much more sensitive to facial descriptions in literature in the same way an average reader may pay close attention to descriptions of exotic places. This is not to say I disagree that facial expressions are innate or instinctual, only that the study seems like a flawed way of proving so.
Tags: Science
