Smile, Please

Clay Anderson Science 2, LA 2, 6th Grade November 13, 2012 Kelly Mann, Amanda Reding

Table Of Contents
A. Statement of Purpose.............................................................3 B. Hypothesis.4 C. Research ...5 D. Materials...6 E. Procedure..7 F. Observation and Results...8 G. Conclusion9 H. Bibliography10 I. Acknowledgements..11

Statement of Purpose
I chose to do this experiment because I wanted to find out what affect smiling has on mood. I am also interested in this topic because I am interested in what effects peoples mood in general. In addition, my mom teaches in this subject.

Hypothesis

My hypothesis is that smiling will give you a more positive mood. I think this because when I smile I feel better.

Materials

1. Pencils 2. Rating Scales 3. Cartoon 4. Subjects

Procedure

1. Set up testing station with cartoon and rating scale 2. Label participants in control or experimental group 3. Experimental group will be instructed to put pencil in mouth to force smile muscles to engage 4. Control group will not have pencil in mouth 5. Bring participants to testing station one at a time 6. Explain to participants that they will be shown a cartoon and will be asked to rate it based on how funny they think that it is 7. Participants will rate cartoon 8. Rating scale will be labeled with name or participant, age, and whether control or experimental group 9. Gather data for each group separately 10. Find average cartoon rating for each group 11. Determine which group found cartoon funnier

Research

Smiling has a very positive effect on mood. It helps you to live longer, be happier, reduce stress, and people want to be around you. It also has an effect on energy. If you smile you have more energy. Charles Darwin wrote in 1872, The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it, (Wenner 2011). This means if you show your emotion on your face it amplifies the emotion. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich studied people who had botox and were less able to frown. The botox subjects had lower activity in regions of the brain that process emotional responses. The opposite is true too. When people show greater facial expressions, the emotions get bigger, (Wenner, 2011). For example, if you show more expressions on your face, the parts of your brain that process this information are more active. In 1989 Robert Zajonc studied the effects of smiling. He had subject repeat vowel sounds that that made the face smile or frown. They repeated the sounds long e to make them smile or long u to force a frown. He found that with the long e subjects reported feeling better, (Layton). In another recent study at the University of Kansas, they found that people who smiled recovered more quickly from stressful activities. The researchers taught the subjects to hold their facial expressions in a neutral way, a small smile, or a big smile. Then the subjects were then given a stressful activity. The subjects with the big smiles recovered quicker, (Paddock, 2012).

Observations and Results

My observations showed that it does not matter if you have a pencil or not in your mouth but if you had a lot more people the pencil group would find it funnier it was very even. Pencil Group Scale: 1=not funny 10=super funny 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9 Average= 6.2 Non-Pencil Scale: 1=not funny 10=super funny 1, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, Average=6.4

Conclusion
My conclusion is that smiling helps with your mood, energy, health, and many other things, it is very good to smile. My data does not share the results of my research a larger group of people would probably prove what the research shows if I did this experiment again that is what I would change. My hypothesis was proven right in the research but wrong in the experiment.

Bibliography
1. Wenner, M. (2009, October 29). Smile! it can make you happier. Scientific American Mind. 2. Layton, J. (n.d.). Does smiling make you happy?. How Stuff Works, DOI: science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/inside-themind/emotions/smiling-happy.htm 3. Paddock, PhD, C. (2012). Smiling reduces stress and helps the heart. Medical News Today, Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/248433.php

10

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my mom and dad for helping me with this project and I also would like to thank all the people that I tested.

11