Crow’s feet? Don’t worry, they make you look sincere

YOU might think that using Botox to iron out your crow’s feet would make people view you more favourably.

However, erasing your eye wrinkles actually makes you seem less sincere, a study has found.

Researchers said that when our eyes wrinkle when we smile, frown or grimace, our expression is perceived by others as more genuine.

The team, from Western University in Canada and the University of Miami, found that when people were simultaneously shown two photos of individuals pulling the same expression with and without eye wrinkles, their eyes lingered more on the wrinkled photographs.

When the brain is presented with multiple images, it directs our eyes to focus more often on the one that is perceived as more relevant – meaning the participants perceived the crow’s feet photos to be more sincere and ‘intense’.

The participants were also asked to rate the expressions on a scale for intensity and sincerity, with the eye-wrinkling pictures ranked higher, the study published in journal Emotion found.