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The Expression and Perception of the Duchenne Smile

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Abstract

The smile, as a nonverbal behavior, can be a quite confusing expression. People smile for many reasons and when experiencing many different emotions including embarrassment, anger, jealousy, and distress along with many kinds of positive affect (Ekman & Friesen, 1982; Keltner, 1995; Ansfield, 2007; Ambadar et al., 2009). Although people smile when they are feeling a range of different emotions, the smile is largely synonymous with happiness, and people are very good at perceiving when another person is feeling happy rather than one of the other emotions listed above.

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© 2015 Sarah D. Gunnery and Judith A. Hall

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Gunnery, S.D., Hall, J.A. (2015). The Expression and Perception of the Duchenne Smile. In: Kostić, A., Chadee, D. (eds) The Social Psychology of Nonverbal Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137345868_6

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