Researchers found that walking around with a forced smile and fake (假的) happiness simply leads to
people feeling unhappier. So, putting a brave face on your sadness could be harmful. The research also
found that women suffered more than men when pretending to be happy.
Dr. Brent Scott, who led the study, said employers should take note because forcing workers to smile when dealing with the public can result in bad outcomes. He said, "Smiling for the sake of smiling can lead
to emotional tiredness, and that's bad for the organization." He also said the research showed
customer-service workers who had "fake smiles" throughout the day fell into a bad mood and didn't want
to work, so their productivity dropped.
The study is one of the first of its kind to examine emotional expressions over a period of time and
compare the different effects on men and women.
Dr. Scott's team examined the effects of "surface acting", or fake smiling, compared to "deep acting",
or making people smile by thinking of pleasant memories. Dr. Scott said, "Women were harmed more
by surface acting, meaning their moods worsened even more than men's. However, they were helped
more by deep acting, which means their moods improved more by thinking of pleasant memories. "
According to Dr. Scott, women tend to suffer more when pretending to be happy because they are
expected to be more emotionally expressive than men. Therefore, forcing a smile while feeling down is
more likely to go against their normal behavior and cause more harmful feelings.
Although deep acting can improve moods a little in the short term, Dr. Scott says, it's not a long-term
solution to feeling unhappy. "There have been some suggestions that if you do this over a long period you
start to feel unreal. You're trying to develop positive emotions, but at the end of the day you may not feel
like yourself any more."
1. According to the passage, Dr. Scott's study ______.
A. is supported by some big employers in the USA
B. is meaningful as there haven't been many similar ones
C. examined more women than men for a long time
D. aimed to make the employees more productive
2. Women suffer more from fake happiness mainly because ______.
A. they usually turn up shy in public places
B. they should be more emotionally expressive
C. they are often treated in a terrible way
D. they like thinking of pleasant memories
3. It is implied in the passage that deep acting _____.
A. doesn't have any effect on men
B. cannot improve our moods in any case
C. harms our feelings in the long run
D. pleases people by feeling like another person
4. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Fake smiling makes people unhappy.
B. Women shouldn't be forced to smile.
C. An important suggestion for workers.
D. Why people don't want to work