A group of men and women were asked about their impressions of a set of photographs
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2272240/Smile-Crows-feet-make-look-clever-attractive.html#ixzz2K93XVkMp
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Crow's feet – often regarded as an unwelcome sign of ageing – could actually be something to smile about.
People are judged more attractive and more intelligent if their eyes wrinkle around the corners when they smile, research shows.
Psychologists asked a group of men and women about their impressions of a set of photographs showing people smiling. In all cases, the corners of the mouth were turned up. Sometimes the eyes were also scrunched up – often thought to denote a genuine smile.
Crow's feet: People are judged more attractive and more intelligent if their eyes wrinkle around the corners when they smile, research shows
When crow’s feet were present the smile was judged to be more authentic, intense, spontaneous and to convey more amusement.
The people in the photographs were also thought to be more intelligent and more attractive when the skin around their eyes was wrinkled, and to be slightly more dominant, the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior reports.
However, a smile that reached the eyes didn’t lead to people being judged as more trustworthy – a surprising finding, given that such a smile is usually seen as more authentic than one that just touches the lips.
The researchers at the University of Louvain in Belgium emphasised that the study focused on crow’s feet that appear when someone smiles – so those with permanent etchings around the eyes cannot necessarily take any comfort from the results.
Susanne Quadflieg, who did the study at the University of Louvain but now works in Abu Dhabi, said: ‘Hardly any other emotional expression has attracted as much scientific interest concerning its genuine expression than smiling.’
A smile was judged to be more authentic, intense, spontaneous and to convey more amusement
Naresh Joshi, a consultant ophthalmic plastic surgeon at London’s Cromwell and Chelsea & Westminster hospitals, said that many patients ask for the wrinkles that appear when they smile to be smoothed away.
However, he usually refuses, warning patients that a change made when smiling will look peculiar when the expression is neutral.
Mr Joshi, a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: ‘People say to me “I want to get rid of these wrinkles” and crinkle up their eyes but, when they are at rest, there is absolutely no wrinkle.
‘So, I tell them that it is a dynamic line, it is a line of expression, and they shouldn’t get rid of it.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2272240/Smile-Crows-feet-make-look-clever-attractive.html#ixzz2K93XVkMp
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
