Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Face Facts

A detailed study involving several test subject observations once concluded that famous anchorman Peter Jennings' facial expressions showed a bias toward Ronald Reagan over Walter Mondale. A cross-examining study found that nearly 75% of people who chose Peter Jennings as their evening newsman from among the three major networks voted for Reagan, versus 50% split on the other two.

There could be (surely are) other factors that affected the viewers or could explain the results. But I'm convinced that people are surprisingly, almost subliminally, susceptible to the influence body language. "Smile, and the world smiles with you" is nearly a scientific fact! Walk down a crowded hallway making smiling eye contact. The results are predictable. Even forced smiles, in time, become genuine. The very act of smiling seems to make one feel better.

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