Romance Redux

It helps to hear another take on this research, thanks!

What I find interesting is that men seem to prefer smiling women. But if you say that people are very good in assessing whether someone is faking or not, we could say that men like women that fake smiles. So, men like it when women are faking...
Or, even when the research conclusion on smiling is true: 'smiling means submission', men like it when women play submissive.

I think this study raises some questions--probably more research is needed - and some thoughtfulness around designing the study. It did make me think about what's attractive to me and I wonder if that changes throughout one's life. When one becomes more healthy in relationships, is one more attracted to smiles?

There are some great point in your comments. Thanks so much everyone! I'm going to address them all at once.
Men seemed to find the smiling women more attractive--which has been found in previous research, too--but if you look at the graph of mean scores, in the linked article, you can see the scores are shown not on the full 9 point scale, but on a scale from 2-7. This is a standard way of highlighting difference more dramatically (compress the scale).

You'll notice the only mean score well above 4 (which I picture somewhere in the middle, neither attracted nor unattracted) is the average near six, for men viewing women. From that point of view, the only photos anyone even found reasonably attractive (on average) were the ones of women smiling, with the rest somewhere in the middle of the scale. It's a leap from this to conclude that women are turned off by happy men, though it seems to suggest that the least unsexy photos were of women smiling (fake or no).

The argument that women's approach cues are "submissive," including smiling, is rife with problems. In field research (observation at bars, etc) on flirting, women seem to take the lead, with far more active "signaling," while men merely respond.

It's true, too, that women have been found to smile more than men, though the differences in how much men and women smile have been small. More importantly, the findings are role-dependent. When women in are in similar roles the differences disappear. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/03/030319080920.htm
This is a common problem with a pure evolutionary psychological interpretation. In context, what seem to be gender differences often disappear or reverse. It's hard to decontextualize human interaction, which has so much to do with expectations.

I suppose it's possible to have a sense of humor without smiling, but if we go with anecdotal data, I'm not sure how much a comedian's on stage straight face (not laughing at one's own jokes) correlates with their smiling behavior off stage. Even then, they seem to smile quite a bit compared ordinary conversation (which makes sense, since they're trying to be funny)

Finally, recent research in adult attachment styles would support the idea that people's preference can change towards healthier relationships over time, and in turn, their response to more avoidant cues can change as well. Your point, Lisa, offers an interesting research question: Is less smiling correlated with a more avoidant style? Haven't seen this explored to my knowledge.

Thanks again for reading.

Your advices are really good. You could help some Centroamerican young people, who think "delictive face" is attractive. There is too much young people violence due "maras" http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_Salvatrucha (maras's definition).

They have wrong life philosophy and violence is their motto. Good centroamerican people doesn't like it!

Wikipedia say: "The excessive cruelty of the members of gangs or "maras", allowed them to be hired by the criminal organization of Sinaloa, led by Joaquin Guzman Loera, to be trained in handling weapons and counteract the force of the Gulf Organization (The Zetas), a war that plagues the southern U.S. border".

But things like this happens... http://www.reporteindigo.com/reporte/articulo/dan-capos-mexicanos-permis...

In fact, the best way to solve the violence in Central America is give to young people good advices and peacefull philosophy.

Regards!

Your advices are really good. You could help some Centroamerican young people, who think "delictive face" is attractive. There is too much young people violence due "maras" http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_Salvatrucha (maras's definition). They have wrong life philosophy and violence is their motto. Good centroamerican people thinks it is no good. Wikipedia say: "The excessive cruelty of the members of gangs or "maras", allowed them to be hired by the criminal organization of Sinaloa, led by Joaquin Guzman Loera, to be trained in handling weapons and counteract the force of the Gulf Organization (The Zetas), a war that plagues the southern U.S. border". But it happens too http://www.reporteindigo.com/reporte/articulo/dan-capos-mexicanos-permis... Conclusion: the best way to help centroamerican young people is good advice and a better philosophy. Regards!