Observational Field Study

Abstract This observational field study, conducted with ten participants, tested for the frequency with which a smile was answered with a reciprocal smile. The researcher smiled at an individual and noted the response of the subject. Since a smile is usually interpreted as a display of friendliness and trustworthiness, the majority of subjects smiled back. The results of this study show that when a person smiles at someone, the recipient will smile back 70% of the time.

Introduction

Smiles offer social cues to the receiver and imply that the sender is friendly or has good intentions. However, a smile can also be insincere or artificial. This study addresses what the facial response of the receiver is even though the receiver does not know

The research design was an observational field-study. The researcher stood outside holding a bag, as if waiting for her ride. When eye contact was made with a passing adult, the researcher smiled and maintained eye contact for two seconds. The smile was made with the lips closed and no teeth showing. The researcher did not otherwise interact with the subjects. The selected subjects were both male and female, ranging in age from approximately the mid-twenties to age 60 or 65. After smiling for two seconds, the researcher turned her head away and then looked at her cell phone. At the time of eye contact, the selected subjects either continued to look and smile or immediately turned their attention away. The data for that encounter were then entered in the cell phone. After entering the recent data, the researcher looked up again to select another subject. The length of time smiled, approximate age of the subject, gender, race, and general demeanor were recorded. The demeanor was judged to be “hurried”, “leisurely”, or “distracted”. The casual and relaxed smile of the researcher was the independent variable. Since this type of smile was not overbearing or aggressive, the impression was intended to convey friendliness and warmth. The objective was to elicit a smile (dependable variable) which reciprocated friendliness. This smile experiment was internally valid because many possible confounding variables were

60% were female and 40% were male. The ethnicity was as follows: 40% were Black, 30% were White, 20% were Hispanic, and 10% were Asian. A total of 10% of subjects were “distracted”, 30% were “hurried”, and 60% were “leisurely”. Thirty percent did not reciprocate with a smile. One person was “distracted”, one was “hurried”, and one was “leisurely”. Of those who did smile for at least two seconds, two were “hurried” and 5 were “leisurely”. One limitation of this study is the small number of participants. Another is that the study was done within two hours on one specific day and time – a Wednesday afternoon. A different time of day or day of the week could make a