How do you normally judge facial expressions? Do you see slight grins on lips or angry creases on foreheads? According to a recent study on TIME, how you judge these non-verbal cues may actually affect the way you feel.

Researchers from the University of Bristol in England ran two experiments. The first involved 40 healthy adults between ages 18 and 30 who were asked to look at faces with different expressions on a computer screen. They were then asked whether the feelings behind the expressions depicted happiness or anger.

Those who interpreted some of the more ambiguous faces as angry were then told that the expressions were actually of happiness, which created a bias that the researchers hoped would lead them to discern expressions more positively.

A repeat of the experiment confirmed their theory; the same individuals who once rated ambiguous expressions as angry now rated them more positively. They also reported feeling less angry or uncomfortable after looking at the faces.

In the second experiment, researchers worked with 46 aggressive adolescents between ages 11 and 16, some of whom already had criminal records. After testing the teens' level of aggression, researchers ran the same experiment. Aggression was once again tested after the exercise.

Interestingly, the results showed that teens who were taught to depict ambiguous expressions more positively also displayed less anger and violence two weeks after the trial.

Based on these results, it seems that all it takes is a change of heart for people to see things differently, so don't immediately think that your new officemate is antipatika or that your boyfriend is masungit just because they’re wearing ambiguous expressions. Chances are they aren't, but in case they are, you can always smile. Not only will it make you feel good about yourself, but it may also make them feel better , too.

(Photo by Tricia via Flickr Creative Commons)