Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Many see smiling simply as an involuntary response to things that bring you joy or

laughter. While this observation is certainly true, what most people overlook is that

smiling can be just as much a voluntary response as a conscious and powerful choice

(Stibich, 2020). In this chapter, the researchers will tackle more about smiling and its

relevance to the self-esteem and moods of students, with the presence of all the related

literature that the researchers found and read beforehand. All articles, researches, and

studies that the researchers found relating to the topic will be seen in this chapter. This

chapter help to assess the research before the actual gathering of information and to

have wider knowledge about the research.

Mood

Mood is cumulative, whereby a series of emotional responses to daily events

combine to form a mindset that stays in place until gradually or suddenly changed by

future events (Mellalieu, 2003). The facial expressions have a small impact on feelings.

For example, smiling makes people feel happier, scowling makes them feel angrier, and

frowning makes them feel sadder. “Conventional wisdom tells us that we can feel a little

happier if we simply smile. Or that we can get ourselves in a more serious mood if we

scowl.” (Coles, 2016). Smiling elevates your mood and creates a sense of well-being.

As behavioral psychologist Sarah Stevenson writes in this post, “Each time you smile

you throw a little feel-good party in your brain.” The dopamine, endorphins, and
serotonin start whooping it up when a person smiles, those endorphins serve as natural

pain relievers and act as the body's own opiates. A smile provides each person with a

mini facelift. Turning up the corners of each own’s mouth raises the entire face,

including cheeks, jowls, and neck. Changing your behavior by smiling can change your

mood and feelings. (Selig, 2016).

Emotions

Emotion is a complex psychological state that involves three distinct components: a

subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive

response. Emotions describe physiological states and are generated subconsciously.

Usually, they are autonomous bodily responses to certain external or internal events. By

contrast, feelings are subjective experiences of emotions and are driven by conscious

thoughts and reflections (iMotions, 2015).

In studies of face-to-face interactions, the genuine smile has been found to trigger

positive emotions in those who observe it (Howard & Gengler, 2001; Sato, Fujimura,

Kochiyama, & Suzuki, 2013).  “When someone smiles at you, you feel the good vibes

from them, which makes you want to pass a smile on the next person, and so on and so

forth. We should make a conscious effort not to take smiles from our loved ones for

granted, and to keep in mind that across the globe a smile can mean so much more

than a simple facial movement.” (Nichole Spector, 2017)

Brain
 The brain is the most important organ in the human body. It is the control center

of our body which coordinates actions and reactions, allows us to think and feel, and

enables us to have memories and feelings

(https://www.princetonbrainandspine.com/resources/learning-center/brain-anatomy/).

When someone shows emotions through their facial emotions, our brain reads it and

analyzes it. The region of the brain responsible for making judgements about emotions

is called the amygdala, though it may sometimes be inaccurate. When looking at a face,

brain cells in the amygdala fire electrical impulses or "spikes" in response. However, the

role of such face cells in social cognition remains unclear (Ralph Adolphs, 1999).

The cingulate cortex is the part of the brain which is responsible for the facial

expression of smiling, it is an unconscious automatic response area

(www.psychology.com). The brain does not identify the difference between a real or a

fake smile. When a person smiles, there are neurotransmitters released called

endorphins - which is responsible for making you feel happy. The more endorphins

released in our brain the happier we feel. This makes a person more relaxed and less

stressed, this hormone acts like a natural pain killer in the body (www.lifehack.org).

Each time you smile your brain feels happy. Smiling activates the release of feel-good-

messengers that work towards fighting stress (Jones and Bartlett, 2009). These

messengers help you experience a whole range of emotions, from happiness to

sadness, anger to depression. When a smile flashes across your face; dopamine,

endorphins and serotonin are all released into your bloodstream, making not only your

body relax but also work to lower your heart rate and blood pressure. Endorphins are
natural painkillers – 100% naturally produced by your own body, without the negative

effects of medication (Lane & L. Nadel, 2000).

 Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

Design

The study used phenomenological research since it ought to understand the

psychological, behavioral, lived experiences of individuals regarding the effect of smile,

which in this case, were the students. The students’ experiences in social settings such

as classrooms were to be examined using their elaborate answers.

Locale

LIDE Learning Center, Inc. (LLCI) is a school supervised by La Salle, an ESC

grantee in the High School department, and PAASCU accredited Grade School

department. There are two companies that provide both financial and school operations

support namely the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation (PASAR)

and the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corporation (PHILPHOS). LLCI is a private

school located in Isabel, Leyte, Eastern Visayas which is 44 kilometers away from

Ormoc City. The school comprises mostly dependents of the subsidized companies.

Non-dependents of the said companies are also accepted by the school as long as they

pass the entrance exam and as long as there are still empty slots available. At present,

its principal is Mrs. Dara T. Ramos who took place after the first principal of the school,

Mr. Eude Carlos A. Yap, who retired in 2009. The High School department comprises a

building with classrooms and offices. Aside from those, the building also has its own

computer laboratory, science laboratory, library, and an audio-visual room (AVR). The
gymnasium is located at the left side of the High School department and at the back of

the Grade School department. The school comprises total student enrollees from

Kindergarten to Grade 12 for the school year 2020-2021.

Informants

The current study examined selected Junior High School students from Grade 7

to Grade 10 school year 2020-2021, which will be taken from approximately 300

students in the department both online distance learning and modular learning. The JHS

department is made up of eight sections which are Grade 7-Mapaglingkod, Grade 7-

Mapagmahal, Grade 8-Mapagpatawad, Grade 8-Mapagpaumanhin, Grade 9-

Mapagkawanggawa, Grade 9-Mapagkakatiwalaan, Grade 10-Mapagkalinga, and Grade

10- Mapagkumbaba. With this, among them 80 will be chosen, 3 boys and 3 girls from

each section. These students will be selected randomly as informants to avoid bias.

Also with the batches, there will be varied answers in relation to their thoughts, feelings

and perceptions of smile and its effect on them, regardless of their gender and group.

Instruments

The researchers’ involvement in qualitative interviewing, is the primary

instrument for conducting this study. The researchers will make use of questionnaires

and unstructured interviews which will determine the effects of smiling on the informants

and their thoughts, feelings, and perception. The main role of researchers is to conduct

interviews and make hand-out questionnaires to the randomly selected students. The

evaluation will be about their own experiences regarding the effects of smiling to their
mood. With the use of questionnaires, all the participants will be able to give detailed

answers thus, researchers can organize the general information from the participants

based on their given answers. For the interviews, only a number of students will be

interviewed so that the researchers can get more thorough information.

Trustworthiness

To be able to guarantee the validity of this study, the method of honesty and

objectivity will be the central ethic of the researchers. The researchers will make sure to

give an informed consent to make sure that the participants were not forced but were

rather voluntary. Competence and responsible publication will be observed when

conducting the objective approach in methodology with the use of explaining the

instruments to elucidate basic concepts.

Data Gathering Procedures

A survey was made among the students in the Junior High School department.

The participants will be randomly selected and were given informed consent to ensure

that no one was forced during the conducting of the study. The data gathered from the

interview and survey will be then analyzed thoroughly. The researchers will write out the

general information and then put it into one. Recommendations by the people involved

will also be given. The method of honesty and objectivity will be used by the

researchers to guarantee the validity of the study. Competence and responsible

publication will be acclaimed in conducting their objective approach towards

methodology.