Smiling – recipe to your longer life?

Can we guess how long someone will live just by looking at their photograph?

A recent study conducted by Michael Kruger and Ernest Abel from Wayne State University suggests that smiling broadly, genuinely and more frequently may lead to a longer life.

The scientists asked volunteers to rate the smiles of 230 Major League Baseball Players from 1952.

They classified the player’s smiles in scale: as “no smile” (having no smile), “partial smile” and “Duchenne Smile”, named after a 19th century French neurologist Guillaume Duchenne and defined as “cheeks being both raised, corners of the mouth being raised and crow’s-feet wrinkles around the eyes”.

Kruger and Abel found the players, who passed away, their longevity directly correlated with their happiness as measured by their degree of smile: players with no smiles lived an average 72.9 years; those with partial smiles lived an average of 75 years; and those with “Duchenne Smile” lived an average of 79.9 years.

So big, authentic smile goes a long way … literally!

Source: Psychological Science