Frowning In Bright Sunlight Can Make You Angry
Sunlight Neuro / Wikimedia Commons Way back in 1872, Charles Darwin noted that when people look into bright sunshine they often frown, assuming a facial expression similar to that of anger. And indeed, when people look into bright light without sunglasses, they contract many of the same facial muscles as when they are angry. ("I'm not angry, it's just sunny out!" said nobody, ever. Nevertheless...) Recent work has shown that emotions can be influenced by facial expressions and body posture. For example if you instruct people to smile or frown in a laboratory setting (without explicitly telling them the true nature of the experiment), they are more likely to report feelings of happiness or sadness, respectively. Neuroimaging studies (like this one) have also shown this link. With these two ideas in mind, a team of Italian researchers put forward the hypothesis that people walking into the...