研究：強顏歡笑會讓你更抑鬱

Pretending to be happy can actually make you more miserable - especially if you're a woman, according to a new study。

Researchers found that walking around with a forced smile and faking happiness simply led to people feeling gloomier。

So, putting a brave face on your woes could actually be counterproductive。

The research found that women suffered more than men when pretending to be happy。

Psychologist Dr Brent Scott, who led the study, said employers should take note because forcing workers to smile when dealing with the public can backfire。

He said: "Smiling for the sake of smiling can lead to emotional exhaustion and withdrawal, and that's bad for the organisation."

Dr Scott said the research showed customer-service workers who 'fake smile' throughout the day worsen their mood and then withdraw from work, so their productivity drops。

He added: "Bosses may think that getting their staff to smile is good for the organisation, but that's not necessarily the case."

Dr Scott, assistant professor of management at Michigan State University, analysed a group of bus drivers during a two-week period。

The study is one of the first of its kind to examine emotional displays over a period of time and compare the different effect that has on men and women。

His team examined the effects of surface acting - or fake smiling - compared to what was termed 'deep acting', or cultivating positive emotions by recalling pleasant memories。

Dr Scott said: "Women were harmed more by surface acting, meaning their mood worsened even more than the men and they withdrew more from work。

"However, they were helped more by deep acting, which means their mood improved more and they withdrew less."

Dr Scott suggested women tend to suffer more when pretending to be happy because they are expected to be more emotionally expressive than men。

Therefore, faking a smile while feeling down is more likely to go against their normal behaviour and cause more harmful feelings。

Although, 'deep acting' seemed to improve mood in the short-term, Dr Scott says it's not a long-term solution to feeling unhappy。

He said: "You're trying to cultivate positive emotions, but at the end of the day you may not feel like yourself anymore."一項新研究顯示，假裝快樂反而會讓你覺得更加抑鬱，對女性來說，尤其如此。

研究人員發現，強顏歡笑、假裝快樂只會讓你感到更抑鬱。

因此，強裝快樂來掩蓋你的悲傷其實會產生相反的效果。

研究發現，假裝快樂的時候，女性比男性更痛苦。

該研究的領頭人、心理學家布倫特•斯科特博士提醒僱主們要注意到這一點，因爲讓員工在應對客戶時強顏歡笑結果會適得其反。

他說：“爲笑而笑會導致員工工作情緒枯竭，不想工作，而這對於公司來說是不利的。”

斯科特博士說，研究表明那些整天“假笑”的客服工作人員心情通常很差且工作積極性不高，從而降低了他們的工作效率。

他接着說：“老闆們可能認爲讓員工微笑對公司有益，但是事實並不一定是這樣。”

斯科特博士是密歇根州立大學的管理學助理教授，他分析了一組公交司機在兩週內的表現。

在同類研究中，該研究首度觀察了人們在一段時間內的情緒表達，並且比較了這種表達對男性和女性的不同影響。

斯科特的團隊比較了表層僞裝(或假笑)和深層僞裝的不同效果。深層僞裝是指通過回想快樂的記憶來培養正面的情緒。

斯科特博士說：“女性在表層僞裝中受到的傷害更大，這意味着她們的情緒會比男性變得更糟，也更不想工作。

“但是，深層僞裝則能給她們更多幫助，她們的情緒能更好一些，對工作的積極性也更高。”

斯科特博士認爲女性在假裝快樂的時候更痛苦，因爲一般來說女性相比男性更願意表達自己的情感。

因此，在心情低落的時候強裝笑臉會跟她們平常的行爲相悖，並導致更多的不良情緒。

但是斯科特博士說，儘管深層僞裝能在短期內改善你的心情，但是它並不是應對心情低落的長期辦法。

他說：“如果你盡力去培養一種積極情緒，到一天結束的時候，你可能會有一種不真實的感覺。”