A smile means that someone is happy—or maybe not. Although we associate smiling with happiness, people can use a smile to convey a whole range of different messages. Research in nonverbal communication has discovered a number of different types of smiles and what they mean.

Psychologist Paul Ekman, an expert in nonverbal communication has identified the smile that is most commonly associated with true happiness. He calls it the Duchenne smile (named after a 19th-century neurologist). The Duchenne smile has the upward corners of the mouth that identify a “smile,” but the telling cue is the narrowed eyes that leave wrinkles, or “crow’s feet,” at the outer corners of the eyes.

The Duchenne smile is in contrast to the fake smile when someone is trying to fake happiness. When the photographer........

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