What Facial Expression Will You Make?

The face is the most visible part of the body. There are four of five sense organs on the face, which are responsible for sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Not only do these sense organs accept external stimuli, they also perform the basic functions necessary for a person to live, such as eating, drinking, breathing, and speaking.

The eyes, nose, and mouth on the face take on their respective roles, and also work together to create a variety of expressions. Animals and insects, too, have faces, but only humans can make various facial expressions. It’s because humans have particularly developed facial muscles. There are about 43 to 80 muscles on the human face, and there are more than 10,000 facial expressions that can be made by moving them.

Many facial muscles can be used to create a variety of facial expressions, but unfortunately, you cannot see them freely. You can only see them reflected on tools such as mirrors and camera lenses, and you can never see the real thing even once in a lifetime. Only others can see your face directly. So some say, “Your face is your consideration for others.” The face, here, does not mean the features but the expressions.

The face is yours, but always exposed to others. What is more important than keeping your face young and beautiful through beauty treatment or cosmetic surgery is how to control the expressions on your face.

Facial expressions are your emotions

When you are glad and happy, the corners of your mouth are lifted up; when you are sick and sad, they go down. If you are surprised, your eyes will grow big, and if you are angry, you will frown. Like this, facial expressions mirror psychological states such as innermost emotions and sentiments.

Sometimes, facial expressions are much faster and more effective than words. Your words can deceive others, but your facial expressions can’t. The six representative facial expressions—happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, fear, and anger are the same regardless of race and nationality.

Some scholars say that one of the reasons humans exist as social animals is because of their facial expressions. What if we cannot make a facial look like emotionless robots? It’s hard to reveal our feelings and know others’ feelings, so it will be a dark and bleak world.

Emotions work inwardly and are expressed on your face. On the other hand, when you make a facial look, your mind moves accordingly. This is called the facial feedback effect. For example, even though you are not really happy, if you smile, you will have positive physiological reactions as if you’re having a good time. Neural circuits that are associated with certain emotions are so closely linked with facial expressions that as facial muscles move, they stimulate parasympathetic nerves in the brain to produce the same effect.

This is also related to empathy. There are mirror nerve cells in the human brain, so you come to make the same facial expressions unconsciously as you see in others’ face.

Facial expressions are more influential than words

Humans hear what others say not only with their ears but also with their eyes. If the auditory and visual information do not match, people trust the visual information more. If you say, “I’m not angry,” but look at the other person coldly, the listener won’t believe your words. Conversely, if you say, “I’m angry,” but put on a smile on your face, the listener won’t think you’re angry; rather, he would think you’re feeling good. No matter how nicely you say, if you make an unpleasant look, the other person may feel offended. But even though you cannot satisfy the other person’s demands, if you speak gently with a bright look, you can rather win his favor.

This phenomenon can be explained by the Law of Mehrabian. Albert Mehrabian, a professor at the University of California, U.S., said that among three elements of communication, words account for 7%, tone of voice accounts for 38%, and visual factors such as facial expressions, looks, and attitudes account for 55%. In conversations, facial expressions, tone of voice, and attitudes of the speaker have a greater impact than the content of the words.

When you speak, if you make a facial expression that matches your words, the other person will understand what you are trying to say more easily. In addition, when listening to the other person, he sees your face and judges whether his story is being understood well. Therefore, it is good to make an expression that matches the content of the word even when listening. If the other person is talking about his worries, you should make a worried look; when he is talking about joyful things, make a joyful look, paying attention to him.

No expression is like the message, “I don’t want to talk with you.” You begin a conversation, expecting that the other person will listen to you, looking at your face. If you lift the corners of your mouth even slightly, it will make you look sweeter and gentler, comforting the other person.

A cheerful look changes your life

People live in contact with others throughout their lives. Cheerful looks are the easiest and most effective way to win others’ favor and have good relationships.

The parents raising children need more cheerful looks. Dr. Edward Tronick at Harvard Medical School in the U.S. experimented to see how a baby under 12 months is affected by his mother’s facial expressions. The experiment was to see the baby’s response while his mother was changing her facial expressions from a cheerful look to a still face, and from a blank expression to a positive expression again, looking at him.The baby was happy to see his mother look cheerful, but when she made a still face, he soon burst into tears without knowing what to do. As the mother showed him a smile again, the baby stopped crying and smiled broadly.

The mood of a child depends on the parents’ facial expressions; when the parents look cheerful, their children too can be stabilized emotionally. If the parents make a blank or scary facial expression, the child is stressed unknowingly and get unstable feelings. When the parents have positive facial expressions while conversing with each other, purchasing things, or talking with others on the road, the child, too, can grow up with a positive attitude.

A cheerful-looking person gives an impression that he is a positive person, making others pleasant. Everyone wants to be close to and to work with such a person. Even though a person has a good educational background, a distinguished career, and a good speech, if he has a hardened facial expression, he is more likely to fail in a job interview. Those who work in the sales, business, and service industry need to have a cheerful look because facial expressions are directly led to job performance. Whether it is for your happy family, child rearing, or success in work, you need to have a cheerful look to get what you want.

The question “What facial expression will you make?” means “How will you live your life?” If you frown in hardship, it will only make things harder. Your impression changes according to the muscles you use often. People who are dissatisfied with the world are more likely to have angry looks, and those who are much worried or sensitive have their unique wrinkles on their faces. That’s why people say that you should take responsibility for your face as you get older.

“It costs nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. None are so rich they can get along without it, and none are so poor but are richer for its benefits. It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in a business, and is the countersign of friends. It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and nature’s best antidote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen.”

This is from Dale Carnegie’s book about a smile, that is, a cheerful face. In order to have bright facial expressions, you need to know how to control yourself. The person who lives with a positive mind and a bright look is a wise and rich person. Bright facial expressions brighten the future of your home and life.