Why Does He Smile? He Knows The Secret To A Long-Term Relationship

It’s the weekend and maybe your son or grandson has a date -and she's a reall keeper- and maybe they've come to you for advice.  Here’s what you say.  Tell him to “Smile”.Science says if you're looking for a long term relationship, you really should smile.

Norwegian and Japanese researchers showed a couple hundred female participants photos of men smiling, and of men with neutral expressions. The women then rated the attractiveness of the men for a prospective short-term relationship or prospective long-term relationship.

For the second part of the experiment, a number of  women were again shown photos of men smiling or with neutral expressions and asked them to rate the men on their trustworthiness and masculinity.  The results showed that women who wanted long-term relationships found the men smiling more attractive; they also rated smiling men as more trustworthy than those with neutral expressions.

Women who wanted short-term relationships found the neutral-faced men more appealing, and most called the neutral expression more masculine.

The researchers reported that women put more emphasis on social factors such as trustworthiness for the long-term relationship, where paternal investment is expected, in order to minimize the risk of losing commitment from their partner during pregnancy and parenting."

Once again, ages old biology comes into play.   So smile.  Or practice til you get it right!  (Daily Mail)