The picture of a cute kitty or the image of a city after a major earthquake will elicit an emotion from most of us.
These sudden changes in our conscious experience focus our attention and guide our memory, perception and decision making.
The Experiment
Researchers manipulated people's emotions using music and sad or cheerful movies. Then the volunteers watched two videos in which the same actor was changing his face expression. In the first one his joyful smile faded gradually until the expression became neutral, while in the second the sad expression dissolved into neutrality. Volunteers had to stop the movies the moment they observed that the person in the video was no longer happy or sad.
Results
Merry volunteers perceived the smile lasting longer than the frown. On the other hand, for sad volunteers, the bleak face that reflected their own state of mind washed out of the actor's face more slowly.
To Remember
Probably the world doesn't smile with us when we smile, but it looks like it does because of our biased emotional brain. Changing our disposition to a good mood refines the way we understand the world around us in a positive manner.
Source: Fine, C. (2007). "Creierul pe cont propriu. Cum deformeaza si inseala creierul nostru". Bucharest: Nemira