The hazards of fake smiles

[lexin]

The 'have a nice day' fixed grin required of many hospitality and other service staff could be seriously bad for their health.

A study published in the Academy of Management Journal has discovered that fake smiles can actually depress mood and hurt health. The researchers examined a group of bus drivers who often have to display a positive,

Comments

[fjm]

The reason for the smile on the telephone is that it lifts the voice: singers and presenters do this too.

[sollersuk]

Has any research been done into any possible difference in sound produced when the smile is natural or put on? I find a big difference in the tension of the muscles around the mouth myself.

[lexin]

I know why it's done; I'm not convinced (and the research would seem to bear this out) that it's healthy.

[lexin]

I find faking a smile works for short periods. I don't know how I'd manage if I had to do it all day.

[julesjones]

Fortunately the sausage factory merely requires us to be polite to the mince^Wcustomers, not to actually smile at them. Fortunately for us *and* for the customers, because they've got enough things to scare them without being confronted by a fake smile.

[lexin]

We're supposed to be polite and smile at anyone we may be introduced to as part of the job: luckily it doesn't happen often.

[shezan]

I could do with a fake smile or three in Parisian cafés or shops.....

[lexin]

I've never been to Paris - is it really that bad?

[shezan]

Hoooooo yeah.

There's a special Japanese word to describe the nervous breakdown that happens to Japanese tourists in Paris after they've encountered one too many surly waiters, shop assistants, etc.

(That being said, you're tougher than a Nip on a package holiday! COME TO PARIS, you can't POSSIBLY never have been here!!!)

[lexin]

One day, one day soon, I will definitely come to Paris. Despite not speaking a word of French.

[fer_de_lance]

Huh. As a several times retail worker, I must either have greater immunity or better faking abilities. While many things about my retail workplaces inspired bad moods and a desire to withdraw, faking a smile for them was just sort of amusing, or at most mildly annoying. Mostly I think I entertained myself by how well I could pull it off -- even if I'd been threatening to decapitate something just before they walked in. :D

[lexin]

I found when I was Chair of a convention (an SF convention), I could pull off fake caring and politeness even under pressure. I learned a lot about myself when I was running conventions.