Can you smile your way to happiness?

Modern and ancient psychology

Today we’re sharing an updated missive we sent a few years ago. Let us know what you think.

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If you smile more will you be happier?

Let’s answer this question with some Stoic psychology. Although we’re told that we’ve learned many things since the time of the ancients, it actually gives a reasonable answer.

For the Stoics, the essence of life lies in managing our impressions of external events. Life is constantly throwing events at us. We can shape who we are by choosing how to respond.

Now: smiling. Smiling doesn’t necessarily indicate a good mood. People smile out of nervousness or embarrassment. Its meaning is context-relative. I’m an American. Some cultures hold that the American proclivity to smile is not exactly indicative of high intelligence. Whether or not that’s true, it’s evidence of happiness – in the sense of feeling good and general wellbeing – at least for us.

When we smile, we’ll receive an impression of our body smiling. That’s some reason to infer that we’re in a good mood. However, our judgments take in much more than our facial impressions. That’s what allows us to distinguish cases in which a smile results from positive and negative emotions.

So, perhaps there are two lessons here.

First, emotions aren’t simply 1-1 mappings onto behaviors. When we’re experiencing an emotion, we’re interpreting a complex behavior and state as a certain emotion. Our thoughts shape our feelings. These depend on who we are and everything we’re experiencing, not just one thing.

Second, to be happy, we need a reason to be. Smiling is one, but it’s not all-powerful. It’s just one ingredient in a zestful and energetic life. Happiness, for the Stoics, is found in good character – a character that revels in the true and beautiful. Living like that gives us a reason to smile.

The last lesson, or clarification, is that for the Stoics, happiness is more than just feeling good. It’s being good.