# Spot The Fake Smile -- Quiz **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201 "2010-11-10T18:58:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![toodlepip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/21 "2010-11-10T20:03:04Z")
Female, 18/20. **Lakai** , my two misses were the same as yours, for the same reason. I watched those two clips again, and I’m still not quite convinced. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/22 "2010-11-10T20:04:38Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > And I agree #13 reminded me of Frankenstein’s Bride. You’ve obviously never seen _Trilogy of Terror_. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/23 "2010-11-10T20:07:46Z")
14/20, female. 13 will haunt me to the end of my days. StG ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/24 "2010-11-10T20:26:18Z")
M 17/20 ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/25 "2010-11-10T20:38:18Z")
F 11/20 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/26 "2010-11-10T20:46:54Z")
Female, 19/20. I knew a lot about Paul Ekman’s work going into it, though. The one I missed was a genuine, but reserved, smile. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/27 "2010-11-10T20:56:50Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Female, 19/20. I knew a lot about Paul Ekman’s work going into it, though. The one I missed was a genuine, but reserved, smile. Blondie? 'Cause she got me, too. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/28 "2010-11-10T21:00:18Z")
M. 15/20. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/29 "2010-11-10T21:03:39Z")
Were anyone else’s results skewed by gender? I had a tendency to rate male smiles as fake. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/30 "2010-11-10T21:08:20Z")
M 17/20. The three I missed were fakes that I labeled as genuine. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/31 "2010-11-10T21:18:43Z")
How do the researchers know if the smile is genuine? This seems like the kind of thing that relies heavily on self-reporting. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/32 "2010-11-10T21:20:56Z")
11/20 Female. Guess I’m not that good at telling the real from the fake. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/33 "2010-11-10T21:35:09Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > How do the researchers know if the smile is genuine? This seems like the kind of thing that relies heavily on self-reporting. They’ve put a lot of work into distinguishing “felt” and “false” smiles ([http://www.paulekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Felt-False-And-Miserable-Smiles.pdf](http://www.paulekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Felt-False-And-Miserable-Smiles.pdf)). I’m sure I could come up with (and thus sure that they could) pretty workable experimental protocols that would reliably elicit false/felt smiles, respectively, among cooperative test subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Skyscrapers\_Are\_Gravestones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Skyscrapers\_Are\_Gravestones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skyscrapers_Are_Gravestones)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/34 "2010-11-10T21:38:06Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Female, 19/20. I knew a lot about Paul Ekman’s work going into it, though. The one I missed was a genuine, but reserved, smile. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Blondie? 'Cause she got me, too. If so, me as well. I started confident but was doubting myself in the middle, and all three I missed were within a frame of five smiles. Male, 17/20 ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/35 "2010-11-10T21:41:46Z")
Female, 16 of 20 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/36 "2010-11-10T22:01:34Z")
15/20 Male. I missed 3 male smiles, 2 females. 4 of the smiles I thought were genuine were fake. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/37 "2010-11-10T22:12:45Z")
Male 13/20 I got 7 out of the first 10 wrong. 4 genuine smiles wrong and 3 fake smiles wrong. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/38 "2010-11-10T22:12:50Z")
15/20 female ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/39 "2010-11-10T22:14:47Z")
Female, 17/20 I have been watching a lot of “Lie To Me” lately and have been that much more aware of people’s facial expressions. And the three I got wrong were all male. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201/40 "2010-11-10T22:16:23Z")
M 19/20. My general rule of thumb is that if they move their head in correlation with the smile then it’s probably genuine. [This is the one which got me](http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/movie9.shtml), and he did the half-start, then full smile, along with a bit of a head nod. Most fake smiles are one smooth movement and then get held until people stop smiling. This guy has a very convincing fake smile. I nailed all the women though. Enjoy, Steven [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spot-the-fake-smile-quiz/560201.md?page=3)