Is happyness trained or in our DNA?

I have wondered about that, too. Some people seem constantly upbeat and happy it's almost weird.

Whether happiness and smiling are the same might be a totally different question.

Happiness?


Humbug.

As Bonnie would say, "have you ever seen me happy?"

Indeed. I believe smiling develops in babies as a social thing; when babies smile we smile back; this is true of older children and adults. The fact that someone is smiling or not is a very poor indicator of their state of happiness.

In some cultures people smile when they are embarrassed; it would be ridiculous to ask if a small baby feels embarrassed.

Happiness is a positive emotion which we all feel. They baby might not "know" about it but it can certainly feel it. Ideally, the smile in a tiny indicator of happiness and we can take it that the baby is happier when it smiles. However,as we grow we find ways to pretend our smile and hence it cannot always be trusted.

Cheers