In an interesting psycho-physical study of the
emotion of joy, Dearborn thus summarizes its characteristics:
"The eyes are brighter and the upper eyelid elevated, as also are
the brows, the skin over the glabella, the upper lip and the
corners of the mouth, while the skin at the outer canthi of the
eye is puckered. The nostrils are moderately dilated, the tongue
slightly extended and the cheeks somewhat expanded, while in
persons with largely developed pinnal muscles the ears tend
somewhat to incline forwards. The whole arterial system is
dilated, with consequent blushing from this effect on the dermal
capillaries of the face, neck, scalp and hands, and sometimes
more extensively even; from the same cause the eyes slightly
bulge. The whole glandular system likewise is stimulated, causing
the secretions,--gastric, salivary, lachrymal, sudoral, mammary,
genital, etc.--to be increased, with the resulting rise of
temperature and increase in the katobolism generally. Volubility
is almost regularly increased, and is, indeed, one of the most
sensitive and constant of the correlations in emotional
delight.... Pleasantness is correlated in living organisms by
vascular, muscular and glandular extension or expansion, both
literal and figurative.
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