Smiling faces rated more feminine than serious faces in Japan

It has been reported that women and girls smile more frequently and more effectively than men and boys. It is expected that this correlation between femaleness and smiling affects the processing of faces, and consequently, smiling faces may be perceived to be more feminine. Participants viewed 30 photographs featuring smiling and serious facial expressions of both male and female subjects and rated them for femininity or masculinity. The result indicated that smiling faces significantly more frequently gave the impression of being more feminine. The interaction between the sex of the faces and their expression was not significant.