If You Keep Making That Face, it’s Gonna Get Stuck That Way!

“If you keep making that face, it’s gonna get stuck that way!” Psshhh, I made tons of funny faces as a kid and my face isn’t stuck that way (Checks mirror to confirm). But what if there was a sliver of truth to that old wives’ tale.

After that last statement, you may have raised one eyebrow or furrowed your brow to assume a quizzical/flummoxed look and noticed the feeling states of disbelief, perplexion, and being bewildered arise. Natural. Nothing groundbreaking here. What is interesting is that strong evidence exists suggesting that the facial expression you created from my question was the event that created the feeling of disbelief or perplexion that you then felt. This idea stems from the James-Lange Theory of Emotion which postulates that events, such as seeing a snake, elicit actions, autonomic arousal behaviors (think heart pounding, sweating), and body/facial expressions, which, in turn, cause feeling states (Laird, 2007).

In the scientific realm, the idea that facial expressions directly influence feeling states is named the facial feedback hypothesis (Craig, 2015). One of the most famous experiments demonstrating this hypothesis involved having participants hold a pencil in their mouth, between their teeth, parallel with the tongue, and read cartoons. The participants holding a pencil in their mouth with their lips away from the pencil (a similar facial expression to a smile) perceived the cartoons as funnier than those who held the pencil with their lips tightly around it in a scowl-like expression (Strack et al. 1988). Further experiments have had similar results inducing other emotional states such as sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust by recreating the associated facial expressions (Craig, 2015; Flack et al., 1999a; Flack et al., 1999b; Flack et al., 2000, Flack & Martin, 2004). In one of the most thorough investigations into facial expressions’ ability to manipulate feeling states, Ekman and colleagues (1978) created a detailed “encyclopedia” of emotional expressions by mapping the movements of individual facial muscles. Further research by this group had subjects recreate the facial movement maps and in turn, the feeling states were induced (Levonson et al., 1990; Levonson et al., 1991; Levonson et al., 1992). Similarly, experiments involving Botox injections to inhibit muscles used to create the furrowed brow look resulted in subjects experiencing less brain activity in regions associated with anger when the subjects attempted to create an angry expression compared to those who did not receive the injections (Hennenlotter et al., 2009).

The precise mechanisms responsible for facial expressions’ ability to change feeling states are unknown. One theory has its origins with Charles Darwin who believed that certain facial expressions manipulated blood flow around the face, and thus, altering feeling states (Craig, 2015). A more modern take on this theory was proposed by Zajonc (1985) whose vascular theory of emotional efference postulates that facial expressions manipulate cranial arterial blood flow, thus changing the temperature of various brain regions resulting in the transmission of neurochemicals and the resultant feelings and emotional states. More simply put, a smile, for instance, contracts the zygomatic muscles, altering the blood flow in the brain, resulting in a cooling of the brain and a positive feeling (Niedenthal et al., 2010; Zajonc, 1985).

After all of that, you may be wondering (possibly with another furrowed brow), “How can this information relate to my life?” or “How can I use this information to change how I feel?” Both are valid questions. First, one can read cartoons with a pencil in their mouth and their lips spread like a smile. Okay, maybe not. But, if you read that attempt at humor with a pencil in your mouth you probably would have laughed. To start to find more serious answers, let’s circle back to the old wives’ tale that kicked off this blog post – “If you keep making that face, it’s gonna get stuck that way!” A similar piece of folklore is that couples that stay together for many years begin to look like each other. Interestingly, facial analysis studies find this to be true, likely due to the shared experience of emotional states and events common to long-term couples (Niedenthal et al., 2010). The couples created those faces and, it seems, their faces became stuck like that. Perhaps this lends credence to the colloquial Resting Bitch Face (and Resting Dick Face to be gender-inclusive) and sufferers of these conditions do need to just smile more.

Besides being a way to remedy a chronically unhappy face, using facial expressions to manipulate feeling states has a few interesting uses. For instance, it can be a powerful form of empathy. By putting on someone else’s face and “walking a mile in their face,” one can gain a greater understanding of the other’s emotional state (Niedenthal et al., 2010). Furthermore, on a more personal level, one can use facial expressions to create more fortitude and neurological states. I’ve had many yoga instructors and exercise instructors recommend smiling through the activities and there may be something to it. Dr. Mark Wetzel in the Just Fly Performance Podcast (Smith, 2022) leverages this as a way to train endurance and battle fatigue by bringing up happiness or joy when fatigue is oncoming and smiling through the discomfort to achieve training goals. Similarly, Scott Carney (2020), Wim-Hof disciple and author of The Wedge, utilizes this idea to calm the body during his many feats that test the limits of human capability such as climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro barefoot and in shorts, submerging in cold water, and partaking in torturously long sauna sessions. Perhaps smiling is indeed cooling our brains at this point, thus lessening perceived discomfort and fatigue? Or, as Kraft and Pressman (2012) found, smiling during a physically stressful event directly lowers heart rate, which, in turn, makes the situation feel less stressful. Furthermore, associating these experiences with the positive feelings of a smile lessens fear and avoidance of these activities later. While the average person is not going to attempt climbing a mountain barefoot, smiling while exercising can help curb the feeling that exercise is a chore.

While nobody’s face got stuck in the goofy faces we make playing around as kids (at least that I’m aware of), there is some weight to that old wives’ tale. If you chronically feel frustrated, sad (in a non-clinically depressed manner), or annoyed and would like to change may be moving your face around or popping up a smile can be a quick hack to alter your mood. The next task you face with dread that you have to accomplish, attack it with a smile or a chuckle. Or, the next time you encounter a chronically cranky individual, put their face on and experience what they are feeling internal. But watch out, your face may get stuck that way.

TLDR;

• Creating facial expressions can invoke feelings
• Assuming the facial expressions of someone else can lead to empathy
• Using positive facial expressions during challenging times can make them more bearable

References

Carney, S. (2020). The wedge. Foxtopus Ink.

Craig, A. D. (2015). How do you feel? Princeton University Press.

Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1978). Facial action coding system. Consulting Psychologists Press.

Flack, W. F., Jr., Laird, J. D., & Cavallaro, L. A. (1999a). Additive effects of facial expressions and postures on emotional feelings. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 203–217.

Flack, W. F., Jr., Laird, J. D., & Cavallaro, L. A. (1999b). Emotional expression and feeling in schizophrenia: Effects of expressive behavior on emotional experience. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199901)55:1%3C1::aid-jclp1%3E3.0.co;2-k

Flack, W. F., Jr., Laird, J. D., Cavallaro, L., & Pelletier, C. M. (2000, April). Effects of disguised and deliberate facial expressions, bodily postures, and vocal expressions on emotional experiences in schizophrenia and depression. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association.

Flack, W. F., Jr., & Martin, A. H. (2004, July). Emotional experience and expression in eating disorders. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Research on Emotion, New York.

Hennenlotter, A., Dresel, C., Castrop, F., Ceballos-Baumann, A. O., Wohlschlager, A.M., Haslinger, B. (2009). The link between facial feedback and neural activity within central circuitries of emotion—new insights from botulinum toxin-induced denervation of frown muscles. Cerebral Cortex, 19(3), 537–542. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhn104

Kraft, T.L. & Pressman S.D. (2012). Grin and bear it: the influence of manipulated facial expression on the stress response. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1372–1378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612445312

Laird, J. D. (2007). Feelings: The perception of self. Oxford University Press.

Levenson, R. W., Carstensen, L. L., Friesen, W. V., & Ekman, P. (1991). Emotion, physiology and expression in old age. Psychology and Aging, 6(1), 28–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.6.1.28

Levenson, R. W., Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1990). Voluntary facial action generates emotion-specific nervous system activity. Psychophysiology, 27(4), 363–384. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1990.tb02330.x

Levenson, R. W., Ekman, P., Heider, K., & Friesen, W. V. (1992). Emotion and autonomic nervous system activity in the Minangkabau of West Sumatra. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(6), 972–988. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.62.6.972

Niedenthal, P.M., Augustinova, M., Rychlowska, M. (2010). Body and mind: Zajonc’s (re)introduction of the motor system to emotion and cognition. Emotion Review, 2(4), 340–347. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073910376423

Smith, J. (Host). (2022, March 19). Dr. Mark Wetzel on neurological strength, emotional states, and isometric mastery (298) [Audio podcast episode]. In Just Fly Performance Podcast. https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-298/

Strack, F., Martin, L. L., & Stepper, S. (1988). Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of facial expressions: A non-obtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 768–776. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.768

Zajonc, R. B. (1985). Emotion and facial efference. Science, 228, 15–21.