The Effect of Smiling on Person Perception

Summary The effect of smiling on interpersonal attraction and perception was examined in a 2 (sex of perceiver) x 2 (sex of stimulus person) x 2 (facial expression) experiment. Ss were presented a photograph of a stimulus person either smiling or not smiling. Results lend strong support to the prediction that Ss liked a smiling person more and evaluated him or her more positively than a nonsmiling person. Moreover, a smiling person was perceived to be more intelligent and could create in the perceiver a warm feeling more so than a nonsmiling person.