Smile

:This article is about a smile as a physiological phenomenon. See smile (disambiguation) for other meanings.

Types of smiles

Researchers have identified a number of different types of smiles.

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• The "Duchenne smile", after the researcher Guillaume Duchenne, is the most studied, and involves the movement of both the zygomaticus major muscle near the mouth and the orbicularis oculi muscle near the eyes. It is believed that the Duchenne smile is only produced as an involuntary response to genuine emotion, and is therefore what one could call the "genuine" smile.
• The "Pan American smile", on the other hand, is the voluntary smile involving only the zygomatcus major muscle to show politeness; for example, by a flight attendant on the former airline of the same name. Considered 'insincere,' this type of smile has also been called the "Professional Smile" by David Foster Wallace in his comedic short story A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (see link for relevant excerpt).