The language of smiles
I just read an article about smiles. Two points that stood out for me:
- Study subject who were shown brief flash of a smiling face - for just four milliseconds, which is so fast that viewers won't consciously register it - they experience a mini emotional high. Afterward, boring material is more interesting, neutral images look more positive, and even bland drinks taste better.
- Different cultures might look at different parts of the face to gauge mood. Americans look at the mouth to discern emotions; the Japanese look at the eyes.
In the US, the emoticon for happy is: :)
In Japan, the emoticon for happy is: (^_^)
In the US, the emoticon for sad is: :(
In Japan, the emoticon for sad is (;_;)
- Study subject who were shown brief flash of a smiling face - for just four milliseconds, which is so fast that viewers won't consciously register it - they experience a mini emotional high. Afterward, boring material is more interesting, neutral images look more positive, and even bland drinks taste better.
- Different cultures might look at different parts of the face to gauge mood. Americans look at the mouth to discern emotions; the Japanese look at the eyes.
In the US, the emoticon for happy is: :)
In Japan, the emoticon for happy is: (^_^)
In the US, the emoticon for sad is: :(
In Japan, the emoticon for sad is (;_;)
It’s because I’m hardly ever sad or crying! (^_^)
Besides smiling, the others that I use most frequently are winking (^_~) and incredulous (o.O) or (o_O)
Here are some Japanese Emoticons.