London, Oct 15: Does your boss smile back at you when he passes by? It might not always be a friendly gesture!
According to a new study, those who feel powerful tend not to smile back at important people, saving their smiles instead for those below them in the hierarchy.
Researchers from the University of California asked 55 young men and women to write about a time when they felt powerful—such as leaving home to go to university—or powerless, the Daily Mail reported.
Participants were then hooked up to equipment that measures the activity of key facial muscles, and were asked to watch short video clips of people with jobs with different levels of prestige, who were smiling or frowning at them.
As they watched, the equipment measured the activity of the zygomaticus major—the ‘smiling muscle' that raises the corner of the mouth.
