20.6: Smiles and Leniency
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Learning Objectives
- To study the research on effects of smiling
Research conducted by
Marianne LaFrance and Marvin Hecht
Case study prepared by
David Lane
Overview
Dale Carnegie stated that smiling helps win friends and influence people. Research on the effects of smiling has backed this up and shown that a smiling person is judged to be more pleasant, attractive, sincere, sociable, and competent than a non-smiling person.
There is evidence that smiling can attenuate judgments of possible wrongdoing. This phenomenon termed the "smile-leniency effect" was the focus of a study by Marianne LaFrance & Marvin Hecht in 1995.
Questions to Answer
Does smiling increase leniency? Are different types of smiles differentially effective?
Design Issues
There was a single person used for all the conditions. This may limit the generalizeability of the results.
Descriptions of Variables
| Variable | Description | |
| Smile |
1 is false smile
2 is felt smile 3 is miserable smile 4 is neutral control |
|
| Leniency | A measure of how lenient the judgments were. |
Data Files
Leniency.xls
References
- LaFrance, M., & Hecht, M. A. (1995) Why smiles generate leniency. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 207-214.