TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCESand this is the one most researchers have zeroed in on. But the
smile is disappointing because people smile as often when they
lie as when they tell the truth.
There are, however, dozens of different kinds of smiles. Dr.
Ekman has measured, catalogued, and studied the different types
of smiles and has concluded that they are probably the most under-
rated facial expressions, and that they are far more complicated
than people realize.
People smile when they are pleased, happy, content, amused,
enjoying life; but they also smile when they are miserable or
sad. There are false smiles used like masks that send a subtext
that the wearer isn't being entirely truthful.
Dr. Ekman lists eighteen smiles that are not deceptive. These
are smiles that are really felt by the smiler. What distinguishes
a felt smile from an artificial one is the fact that in the felt smile
no other muscles in the lower part of the face are involved. In
the upper face, the action that accompanies a felt smile is the
tightening of the muscles that circle the eye. This smile lasts
longer than a false smile and is more intense when the emotion
that causes it is extreme.
We may not consciously be aware of these subtle changes,
but they send out a subtext on an unconscious level. Literature
is filled with references to false smiles: "He smiled with his lips
but not his eyes," or "The smile never reached her eyes." Writers
have used these expressions to the point of cliche to distin-
guish a genuine smile from a false one. This lack of involve-
ment of the muscles around the eye, Dr. Ekman stresses, "is
a subtle cue, but a crucial one for distinguishing felt from false
smiles."
Consider now a few smiles that are felt, but do not transmit
Positive emotions. Sometimes we smile when we are afraid. In