When you’re feeling down and don’t have time for your typical pick-me-ups, you may follow the classic advice to fake a smile to trick yourself into happiness.
But can forcing a smile actually cheer you up?
The question has been controversial among scientists, Marie Cross, an assistant teaching professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State, told Live Science. But in the past few years, research has revealed what she said feels like a clear answer: At least in a laboratory setting, making yourself smile can improve your mood.
A 2019 meta-analysis published in the journal Psychological Bulletin found that grinning could not only amplify happiness but create it.
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