1. Get others to trust you 让别人相信你
One signal that suggests we are trustworthy is a smile. Genuine smiles send a message that other people can trust and cooperate with us. Economists even consider that smiles have a value. In one study by Scharlemann et al. (2001) participants were more likely to trust another person if they were smiling. This study found that a smile increased people's willingness to trust by about 10%.
微笑能给别人发出一种信号,告诉他们我是值得相信的。经济学家甚至认为微笑是有价值的。在Scharlemann等学者做的一项研究中,研究结果显示如果你对对方微笑的话,对方会更加愿意相信你的话。研究结果还显示,微笑能让对方相信你的话意愿增加10%。
2. Smile for leniency 让别人放你一马
When people do bad things they often smile when they are caught. Is this to their benefit? According to a study conducted by LaFrance and Hecht (1995), it can be. We treat people who've broken the rules with more leniency if they smile afterwards. It doesn't matter whether it's a false smile, a miserable smile or a real felt smile, they all work to make us want to give the transgressor a break.
当人们做坏事被抓到时,他们通常会笑。这是为什么呢?根据LaFrance和Hecht做的研究结果显示,做坏事被抓到的人如果露出微笑的话,我们对他们可能会多一些仁慈。不论是假笑、惨笑还是真正的不好意思的笑都能让对方放你一马的想法强烈一点。
3. Recover from social slip-ups 笑能让你更容易被原谅
Did you forget to buy your partner an anniversary present? Has an important client's name slipped your mind? Have you accidentally kicked a small child? If you've tripped on a social banana, embarrassment is your go-to emotion. The embarrassed smiles we display involve looking down and sometimes we emit a silly little laugh. This is designed to elicit fellow-feeling from other people so they think less of the slip and forgive us more quickly.
你是不是忘记给你的合作伙伴买周年纪念礼品了?不记得重要客户的名字了?不小心整伤了小孩子?如过你真的被这些社会人际关系“香蕉”给绊倒的话,相信你要尴尬好一阵子。这个时候低头尴尬一笑或者偶尔一个小小嗤笑会让别人对你多一些同情,这样他们忘记你的囧事的速度也会快一些。
So the embarrassed smile helps us get out of jail free(ish). Once again, the power of a smile.
尴尬一笑能帮我们迅速脱囧。微笑的力量再次发挥作用。
4. Smile to make money 笑能赚钱
We've already seen that economists have calculated the value of a smile, but can a smile make us real cash-money? Apparently the broad smile of a waitress can: Tidd and Lockard (1978) found smiling waitresses made more in tips.
我们已经知道,经济学家认为笑也是有价值的,但是笑是否真的能给我们带来实在的收入呢?至少这一招在服务行业是有实效作用的:Tidd和Lockard研究发现面带微笑的女服务员拿的消费会比较多。
5. Smile and (half) the world smiles with you 你对别人笑,半数人也会对你回以笑
One of the simple social pleasures of life, which goes almost unnoticed because it's automatic, is when you smile at someone and they smile back.As you'll have noticed, though, not everyone does smile back. Hinsz and Tomhave (1991) wanted to see what proportion of people would respond to a smile aimed at them with their own smile. Their results suggest around 50% of people reciprocate. In comparison almost no one responds to a frown with their own frown.
当你对别人笑的时候,他们对你也回以微笑,这是我们经常会忽视的一个社会交流快乐之处。也许你会发现,你对别人微笑,而对方却不一定会给你一个微笑。Hinsz和Tomhave曾经做过研究,想搞清楚会对别人回以微笑的人在所有人里所占的比例。结果就是50%的人会对他人回以微笑。但是如果你对别人皱眉相向,别人肯定不会回你一个皱眉的。