Warning – Study Finds Smiling Signals Low Status

Don’t frown yet – We show you why the study is flawed

Why Elvis sneered and Victoria Beckham pouts

This recent headline grabbed our attention. A new study reported in Canada dot com and the Edmonton Journal purports to show that smiling signals lower status in terms of personal dominance and social prestige. Whoa, that sounds scary. As a business  etiquette expert and image consultant that goes against our advice and everything we teach. But then I found out in what professions the study finds that smiling signals low status.

Are you a football player?

The study focused on two groups, football players and fashion models, hardly representative of the general population or business world. Study participants found that football players who didn’t smile were judged to be more aggressive and thus more dominant than players who smiled. Duhhh! They needed a study to find that out?

Are you a fashion model?

Participants were also shown cropped faces of models for high prestige and low prestige fashion brands and asked to rate their expressions. The budget models (flyer and catalogue models) were more frequently perceived as smiling than the elite ones. So the study authors concluded – ergo – smiling equates to lower prestige.

Now let’s talk about the real world

As your business etiquette and corporate image consultants we beg to differ. In the real world of business and social interactions, a smile does not signal lower status and lower social prestige.  A smile signals what it’s always signaled to people, (outside of football gladiators and runway models) friendliness and approachability.

Approachability is what it’s all about.

Do high-fashion models want to be approachable? No.
Do football players on the field want to be approachable? No.

The study had to search far and wide to find two realms in which smiles can have negative connotations. On the football field and on the fashion runway relationship building isn’t really the goal.

You don’t want to act like a professional model or a professional football player

Tip – Do you want to be approachable? Then keep on smiling.

If you’d like to learn how to build relationships and take your professional image and skills to the next level,
check out our upcoming Complete Professional workshops. (In Edmonton and Calgary and open to ballplayers and models too:)

Watch the video above on networking tips where I talk about the importance of a smile and how some people (maybe footballers and fashion models) need to work on theirs.

Click here to read the Edmonton Journal article by Misty Harris of Post Media and Canada dot com.

Click here to read the original study by the New Mexico State University.

Click here if you’d like to see more videos on business tips from Capital Ideas Edmonton

Posted by Terry Pithers – The Canadian Business Etiquette Expert and smiling non-fashion model