The Duchenne Marker is Not a Universal Signal of Smile Authenticity – But it Can Be Learned!

The Duchenne marker has been proposed as a universal marker of smile authenticity. However, Elfenbein, Beaupre, Levesque, and Hess (2007) found that, whereas Canadians typically show the Duchenne marker when posing happiness, Gabonese do not. We therefore investigated whether the Duchenne marker is perceived as a marker of smile authenticity by Gabonese and by Mainland Chinese living in Quebec, Canada. The results show that Gabonese do not use the Duchenne marker to assess smile authenticity at all. Mainland Chinese immigrants to Quebec showed sensitivity to the Duchenne marker only when judging smiles by French-Canadian encoders, suggesting learning of the use of this cultural dialect through cultural exposure. In sum, the use of Duchenne marker is not universal, but rather limited to certain cultures.

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