New research reveals that subtly boosting smiles during online conversations can increase romantic attraction between people. A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that when researchers artificially enhanced smiles in real-time during speed dates, participants reported feeling more drawn to their partners, especially when both individuals’ smiles were made brighter. This innovative approach sheds light on how even subtle social signals can powerfully shape our feelings in social interactions.
Previous studies on face-to-face exchanges often faced a major obstacle: it was hard to pinpoint which specific signals led to changes in behavior. Much of the earlier work relied on confederates who followed scripted interactions or on virtual avatars in controlled settings. While that approach allowed for cause-and-effect conclusions, it did not capture the natural flow of spontaneous conversation.
On the other hand, examining recordings of real conversations in uncontrolled conditions usually meant there was no way to be certain that a particular facial expression directly caused a shift in someone else’s behavior. In other words, the investigators wanted to combine the natural feel of real conversation with the experimental control of a laboratory study, and they built a new system to do so.
To overcome these limitations, a team of researchers developed a unique experimental platform. This system allowed them to manipulate social cues in real-time during actual conversations, without participants being aware of the changes. The researchers were particularly interested in smiling, a fundamental human expression. People tend to mirror each other’s smiles during interactions, a phenomenon called expressive alignment.
While past studies suggested this alignment is linked to positive social outcomes, no research had been able to directly control and change smile alignment in a natural conversation setting to see if it truly causes changes in attraction. This new study aimed to fill this gap by artificially adjusting smiles during online dating conversations and examining the impact on romantic feelings and social behaviors.
For their study, the researchers recruited 31 single men and women who were interested in participating in online speed dating. Each participant engaged in four separate, four-minute video call speed dates. During these conversations, the researchers used their special platform to subtly alter the smiles displayed on the participants’ faces as seen by their partners. In two of the dates, referred to as congruent conditions, the smiles of both individuals were manipulated in the same way – either both smiles were enhanced, or both were reduced. In the other two dates, called incongruent conditions, the smiles were manipulated in opposite directions – while one person’s smile was made more pronounced, the other person’s smile was simultaneously decreased, or vice versa.
After each four-minute date, participants were asked to rate their experience. They rated how much they liked their partner, how much they wanted to see the person again (measuring romantic attraction), how pleasant and interesting they found the conversation, and how much they perceived their partner to be smiling. At the end of the entire experiment, the researchers conducted a debriefing process. They asked participants a series of questions to find out if they had noticed anything unusual about the video quality or if they suspected any manipulation of facial expressions.
Finally, the researchers used computer analysis tools to examine recordings of the video dates. They measured the actual smiling behavior of the participants, both as it was naturally produced and as it was artificially altered. They also analyzed vocal features to see if the smile manipulations influenced how people spoke.
The results of the study revealed several interesting findings. First, and most significantly, the researchers found that manipulating smiles had a direct impact on romantic attraction. Participants reported the strongest feelings of attraction in the dates where both individuals’ smiles were artificially increased. This suggests that when people perceive enhanced smiles, especially from both themselves and their partner, it fosters a greater sense of romantic connection.
The quality of the conversation was also affected by the smile manipulations. Dates where the smile manipulations were congruent – that is, both smiles were increased or both were decreased – were rated as having better conversation quality compared to dates with incongruent manipulations. Intriguingly, conversations where both participants’ smiles were decreased were rated as higher quality than those where smiles were manipulated in opposite directions.
Interestingly, when participants were asked how much they thought their date liked them, they felt the other person liked them more when the other person’s smile was artificially increased. However, despite these significant impacts on feelings and perceptions, participants did not consciously notice that their smiles or their partners’ smiles were being manipulated. When asked about the smiliness of their partners, ratings did not significantly differ across the different manipulation conditions. This indicates that the smile alterations were subtle enough to go unnoticed at a conscious level, yet powerful enough to influence romantic feelings and conversation quality.
In a surprising finding, the study discovered that smile synchronization, the tendency for people to smile at similar times, was actually lower when smiles were artificially increased. The highest levels of smile synchronization occurred when both participants’ smiles were reduced. This suggests that while enhanced smiles boost attraction, they might not necessarily lead to greater mimicry or mirroring of smiles during the interaction.
Finally, the researchers observed differences in vocal patterns, particularly in men. Men tended to change their voice resonance, making it higher, when they were speaking with women whose smiles were artificially enhanced. This vocal change was not observed in women, suggesting that men might unconsciously adjust their voices in response to perceived positive social signals like smiles from potential romantic partners.
The researchers acknowledged some limitations to their study. The smile manipulation was static, meaning it consistently increased or decreased smiles throughout the conversation, rather than dynamically adapting to the flow of interaction. Future studies could investigate how different types of smiles, like genuine versus polite smiles, and more dynamic, responsive smile manipulations might affect social dynamics. It would also be valuable to explore in more depth the underlying reasons why manipulated smiles influence attraction and conversation quality. Understanding the specific psychological mechanisms at play could provide a more complete picture of how social signals shape our interactions.
The research opens several avenues for future exploration. The experimental platform developed for this study provides a valuable tool for investigating the causal effects of various social signals in real-time interactions. Furthermore, the study raises important ethical considerations. As technology advances, the ability to manipulate social signals becomes increasingly sophisticated. This research highlights the need for broader societal discussions about the ethical implications of using such technologies, particularly in social media and online communication, where subtle manipulations could have significant and potentially unintended consequences on human relationships and perceptions.
