Fake Smiles and Women’s Intuition
A study conducted by Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire and the Edinburgh International Science Festival has found that women may not be as intuitive as they think they are. In fact, men may be more intuitive than women. Study participants "were asked to look at ten pairs of photographs showing smiling faces. One of the smiles in each pair was genuine and the other was fake, and people had to spot the genuine smile." You can take this fake-smile test yourself and see how intuitive you are. I only scored 5 out of 10, so I must not be intuitive at all. However, I have a few doubts about the study. First of all, how do they judge the difference between a fake smile and a real smile? In all the sets of photos the people are obviously posing, so what makes one posed smile real and another posed smile fake? Also, I'm not sure how much you can tell about intuition by looking at pictures, because body language, which isn't conveyed in these still images, has a lot to do with intuition.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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got 7/10, good enough XD
How i watched out for the 'real' smiles is that usually their mouth is wider, they dont' care as much how they look *fake smiles are prettier*, and their eyes shine.
Posted by Yushi on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 05:19 PM
How i watched out for the 'real' smiles is that usually their mouth is wider, they dont' care as much how they look *fake smiles are prettier*, and their eyes shine.
Woohoo, 8/10
I dunno why that pleases me.
Posted by Winona in USA on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 05:38 PM
I dunno why that pleases me.
Yeah, the eyes can tell a lot. I got 8/10.
Posted by joemono in Portland, OR on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 05:42 PM
I was thinking I could get a good score on this test. I took it and got 4/10. So, I went back and took it again. I checked the opposite of the ones I had originally selected and thought I'd get a 6/10, but only got a 5. Hm.
Posted by thephrog in CA USA on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 05:46 PM
I was looking at eyes and I only got 5/10 but that doesn't suprise me because I am a shocking judge of character. My first impressions are almost always wrong and I get taken advantage of a lot. I think it's because I don't want people to think I'm a bitch so I'm nice to everyone. Hmmm, maybe time to change my tactics. This site has taught me a lot....
Posted by Nettie in Perth, Western Australia on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 06:02 PM
I got a rock
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 06:45 PM
Hmmm...must be something in the water. I'm better at judging people by talking to them.
Posted by Smerk in to mischief on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 07:32 PM
Did anyone wonder why the results page's title in the browser is "Rate Jokes"? Sounds a little fishy.
Posted by Kevin in Amarillo, Texas, USA on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 07:48 PM
Narwhal, pirhana, barracuda... sounds a lot fishy
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Sun Apr 17, 2005 at 07:56 PM
8 out of 10. Winona, you're my soulmate, definitely 
I alreadyy knew I am pretty good at distinguishing friendly "masks" from genuine friendliness.
Posted by LaMa in Europe on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 12:44 AM
I alreadyy knew I am pretty good at distinguishing friendly "masks" from genuine friendliness.
I'm a girl and got 8/10. I didn't look for the eyes in particular, just thought if the face seemed happy or not.
Posted by corax in Lisbon - Portugal on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 04:32 AM
I'm a notoriously bad judge of character, especially when it comes to the opposite sex, yet I scored 9/10 and had one that I was uncertain about (the one?). Real smiles are just real smiles, they don't tell you why the person is really smiling, just that they are.
Posted by Neal in Kentucky USA on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 04:44 AM
I got 7/10. They don't tell you which ones are which, do they?
Posted by Glamcat on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 05:18 AM
I scored 8/10. I went with the wider smiles most of the time. But I agree, how to determine a "genuine" smile?
Posted by Nigel on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 05:23 AM
7/10 and I'm notoriously bad at judging people. I thought everyone hated me. Turns out only most of 'em do.
Posted by Charybdis in Hell on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 05:42 AM
I got an 8 out of 10. Could have done better, but pretty good.
Posted by Reynard Muldrake on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 06:59 AM
I got 6 out of ten simply by choosing the right hand photo each time...not bad.
Posted by Ev in US on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 11:26 AM
I think they are all fake!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by X on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 11:30 AM
10/10, I must be freakin' psychic. Really, all I did was look at the expression, fake smiles tend to be smaller than "real" smiles, and eye's tend to be less crinkled, at least that's what I assumed going in. I have the worst fake smile, it's like Chandler from Friends.
Posted by ReadbackMonkey in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 12:00 PM
7/10 I suppose it's in the eyes and cheekbones, the cheesier the smile the faker it is
Posted by Silent Fish in an endless forest of wooden chairs on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 02:43 PM
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