Does it take 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown?

Many people will say that it takes more effort to frown than it does to smile. This is stated to get people to smile more. They want these people to smile more to be happy. They don’t want people to be upset. When your face is resting, it may appear that your mouth is frowning, but that is only done because your mouth slopes downward due to gravity.

However, that is not considered to be a frown. It is merely your mouth resting. A frown requires the person to move the corners of the mouth to angle downward, which does take effort. The same can be said for smiling. The corners must move up. It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.