Almost everybody has given at least one bouquet of flowers to someone special. It’s a wonderful part of life. Going to someone’s house? Grab a bouquet. A friend has a baby? It’s flowers to the hospital. Someone’s birthday? Relative not feeling well? What do we do to perk up their day? Send flowers, of course! And now science is actually backing up a fact that people have already known for some time: Flowers make people happy! But did you know this: They can help improve our memory, too?!
Researchers from Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey – and La Salle University in Pennsylvania studied the response of individuals who got flowers as a gift compared with other presents. The scientists concluded unequivocally that flowers have a real effect on positive emotions. In other words, flowers really do make people happy – and even the biggest of cynics would have a hard time disputing the results. There were three main studies that proved how flowers spread joy:
Study No. 1 was all about the smile. Female participants received a gift – either a mixed-flower bouquet (including roses, lilies and stock); a fruit and sweets basket; or a large, multi-wicked candle on a stand. All gifts had comparable economic value, a pleasant aroma and were wrapped in clear plastic with a colorful bow. An observer noted the facial expression on each recipient in the first five seconds after the gift was given and classified it as one of three types: the Duchenne smile, which uses facial muscles around the mouth and the eyes; the zygomatic smile, which doesn’t involve the muscles around the eyes; and no smile at all. Everyone who received the flowers displayed the Duchenne smile within the first five seconds, compared with 90 percent who got the fruit and sweet basket, and 77 percent of the candle recipients. But the research didn’t stop there – scientists wondered what the recipients did with their gift after receiving it. They found that the flowers were more likely to be displayed in a communal space for all to enjoy compared with the candle and fruit presents, which were more often placed in a private space.
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