For
this year’s Red Nose Day on 14 March chuckle-loving fun seekers are best
off heading to Bristol, according to the results of the UK’s first national
Smiles Per Hour census, conducted by Mr Kipling, an official partner of
Red Nose Day 2003.
A team of 28 psychology students - led by raisingkids.co.uk
CEO Dr Pat Spungin - spent a month smiling at passers-by in city centres
across the UK and measuring whether or not they received a smile back
in return.
Lovely Bristols... And Glasgow smiles better Beaming Bristol comes out top in the survey with
a ‘glee rating’ of 70 smiles per hour. Glasgow
keeps up Scotland’s reputation as a friendly country with a score of 68
smiles per hour, the second best in the UK. Coming in at third place with
54 smiles per hour is Exeter, confirming the open friendliness of the
South West. The Welsh scored well with Cardiff (41) and Wrexham (42) showing
an above average glee rating while Londoners only had time for 18 smiles
per hour.
More facts about smiling
A smile is a universal expression of happiness
and recognised as such by all cultures
A smile is the most frequently used facial
expression It takes as few as five pairs of facial muscles and as many
as all 53 to smile
Regardless of the precise number of muscles
used, smiling causes far fewer muscles to contract and expand than frowning
Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel
better
Even ‘faking’ a smile can lead to feeling
happier
People are born with the ability to smile
(They don’t copy the expression, even babies who are born blind, smile)
Babies reserve special smiles (Duchenne smiles
of joy and happiness) for their loved ones
A newborn shows a preference for a smiling
face over a non-smiling face
Women smile more than men
Younger people smile more than older American
males with high testosterone smile least of all
There are 18 different kinds of smile used
in a variety of social situations
Human beings can differentiate between the
‘felt’ (Duchenne) smile (of joy and happiness) and the social smile
– ‘it’s in the eyes’ (literally)
A smiling person is judged to be more pleasant,
attractive, sincere, sociable, and competent than a non-smiling person
A person who studies laughter is called a
‘gelotologist’
