Should You Smile for the Camera? Be Careful — It May Age You!

We humans smile a great deal. We smile when we’re happy; we smile when we’re sad, to disguise the feeling from others or perhaps to try to cheer ourselves up. We smile when we’re angry for similar reasons of disguise, and we smile sometimes, especially in America, to show off our expensive teeth.

We smile when we’re told to get ready for our picture to be taken, which is almost endlessly in this era of smart phones and social media. Smiling makes us look happier, more confident, warmer, more beautiful, and about two years older.

Wait, what?

Yep. The research shows that smiling makes people rate you as about two years older than if you don’t smile. How can this be? We are all convinced that smiling makes us look younger. But it turns out that the wrinkles that form around your eyes when you smile cause viewers to rate you as older than you are, or would be if you kept your mouth in a straight line.

In a culture that worships youth, this finding is a serious blow to our established protocols. What do we do? Smile to look good, or maintain a neutral expression to look younger? Which will you do now that you know?

I’m old enough that adding two years to my age is merely gilding the lily, so I can go either way, depending on whether I want to…