is allowed to frown in any given social setting. Socially dominant individuals are more likely to frown than those of a lower social status. Individuals with a high social status are permitted to display their emotions more freely, while low dominance individuals are expected to show signs of affiliation. It is considered more socially acceptable for men to display negative emotions than women; women also tend to be less likely to frown than men. Unlike smiling, frowns do not appear to be directly socially contagious; seeing someone frown does not necessarily make you frown. However, in a scientific study participants that were subliminally exposed to frowning faces, were more likely to react with a frown when later shown a neutral face. Frowns can also increase counter-empathy reactions. When the loser of a competition frowns it increases brain responses associated with pleasure in the winner, which is possibly related to the feeling of schadenfreude experienced when witnessing the misfortune of others. Frowns also contribute to impressions formed even during brief encounters with other individuals. When shown a 30-second video clip (without audio) of a frowning college professor, students tend to rate the professor poorly on evaluations. Muscles used It is a long-held belief that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. It is difficult to determine exactly how many muscles are involved in smiling or frowning as there is a wide range of facial expressions that might be considered a frown or a smile. At minimum ten muscles are required to smile in which only the upper lip and corners of the mouth are lifted. A similarly minimal frown requires only six muscles to lower the corners of the mouth. According to plastic surgeon Dr. David H. Song of the University of Chicago Medical Center, however, frowning requires 11 muscles while smiling requires 12. This method of counting the number of muscles used in generating a facial expression does not take into account the energy consumed by each muscle or the individual variability in facial muscles. While humans share facial musculature to express the universal emotions, some humans have more muscles in their face and may use more of them when smiling or frowning. See also Nonverbal communication Smile References External links Facial expressions