Cool site - gakked from meyerlemon

[gategrrl]

There's a BBC test for if you can spot a fake smile from a real smile. I just took the test, and got 14/20. I guess that's not *so* bad - 6 wrong total. 4 of the smiles were genuine, that I thought were fake, and 2 of the fake smiles, I thought were genuine.

Comments

[betacandy.livejournal.com]

I got 11. Which didn't surprise me.

But it got me thinking... okay, in an experiment like this, they either know they said "Smile" or the person happened to grin spontaneously, so there's a clear answer. But in reality, it can be a mix. If, for example, you smile at someone who gets on your nerves but has never done a thing to hurt you because you want to get along with them, is that genuine or not?

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I don't think the analysis has to do with *motivation* so much as which muscles you notice being used in the genuine smiles as opposed to the fake smiles. The smile you describe would be a fake one: you're putting it on, it's not spontaneous.

[(Anonymous)]

But who determines what's a fake smile and what's genuine, then? I know I'm being picky; I just know I'd be more cynical about what's genuine than some people would.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I think I'd suck at that. Where is the test?

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Click on meyerlemon : it's listed on one of her recent entries. :-)

It's an interesting test.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-)