A Multi-Lab Test of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis; Registered Replication Report: Strack, Martin & Stepper (1988)
Coles et al., Many Smiles Collaboration (2022); Wagenmakers et al. (2016) · Nature Human Behaviour, 6; Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(6)
Relied on in 1 place across the academy · 1 stated limit
This entry covers two papers, listed above in order. The link below opens the first.
What is contested about it
“Arrange your face and your mood follows” is the single most repeated claim in popular charm advice. A 17-lab registered replication failed to reproduce the classic pen-in-mouth result in 2016; the 26-lab study in 2022 found only small effects, and weakest of all with the unobtrusive pen task.
What it found
Carnegie's stronger claim — that arranging your face changes your mood — is shaky. A 17-lab registered replication in 2016 failed to reproduce the classic pen-in-mouth result; a 26-lab study in 2022 found small effects, and weakest of all with the unobtrusive pen task.
What it does not show
This is the honest state of it: smile because it tells someone you are approachable, not because we can promise it will make you happy.
Where we rely on it
1 place in the academy. If this paper turned out to be wrong, this is the list that would have to change.
In the curriculum · 1
Cited alongside it
Papers that sit under the same topics and films. Not a claim that they agree with each other — only that the same exercises lean on both.
A Little Thanks Goes a Long Way: Explaining Why Gratitude Expressions Motivate Prosocial Behavior
Grant & Gino (2010)It Doesn't Hurt to Ask: Question-Asking Increases Liking
Huang, Yeomans, Brooks, Minson & Gino (2017)Overly Shallow?: Miscalibrated Expectations Create a Barrier to Deeper Conversation
Kardas, Kumar & Epley (2022)Perceived Partner Responsiveness as an Organizing Construct in the Study of Intimacy and Closeness
Reis, Clark & Holmes (2004)Disclosing Information About the Self Is Intrinsically Rewarding
Tamir & Mitchell (2012)Research
A real study. We tell you what it found, how many people were in it, and what it can't prove.
Free to read, link to and quote. If we have carried this paper further than it goes, say so at contact@suaviq.com — corrections to this registry are the most useful mail we get.