(SOURCE: University of California, San Diego, news release, Oct.
15, 2012) TUESDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Powerful people
try not to mimic the facial expressions of other powerful
people, according to a new study. That means they would be less
likely to return the smile of another high-status person. On the
other hand, researchers from the University of California, San
Diego, noted that powerless people mirror anyone's smile.
"Mimicry has been shown to help build relationships, and both
power and status seem to affect how we unconsciously employ this
strategy," graduate student Evan Carr said in a university news
release. "These findings may speak to how social hierarchies
often form under the radar quickly, efficiently and without
awareness." In conducting the study, researchers asked 55 people
to write briefly about an event that would induce feelings of
power or powerlessness. Afterwards, the participants watched
happy videos as well as angry videos of powerful people
(doctors, for example) or those