Odds are, someone you know has resting bitch face. Heck, you might even have it, and that’s OK. RBF is nothing to be ashamed of—even scientists are interested in learning more about it.

In fact, RBF is the subject of a new study from research firm Noldus Information Technology that attempted to figure out the difference between having zero expression and RBF (because they are so not the same thing).

For their study, behavioral scientists Jason Rogers, Ph.D., and Abbe Macbeth, Ph.D., used software that analyzes 10,000 different human faces to ID facial expressions. Using its stored data, the FaceReader, as it’s called, assigns one of eight different human emotions—happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, contempt, and neutral—to a face

Being the good scientists that they are, Rogers and Macbeth added in images of famous RBF-ers like Kristen Stewart and Kanye West to see what they’d get.

Here’s what they discovered: People with resting bitch face were more likely to register for a secondary but lesser emotion—contempt—in addition to neutral, thanks to subtle facial signals like a slight snarl, squinted eyes, and a furrowed brow. However, the FaceReader didn’t pick up so much contempt that it actually IDed the faces as contemptuous. It was really subtle, more along the lines of the expression you’d throw your parents as a pissed-off teenager to let them know you were annoyed, but not in so obvious a way as to get called out on it.

Macbeth and Rogers also found that RBF is picked up equally in men and women, making it a gender-neutral expression—despite the totally sexist name.

So…RBF is a real, scientific thing and not just something made up for meme’s sake. If you have RBF, you’re part of a legit phenomena—your RBF makes you special—so embrace it.

Want actual proof that you’re an RBF-er (or to prove once and for all that you don’t have RBF)? Macbeth and Rogers are encouraging people to submit their “neutral” photos. Just email Jason (at) noldus (dot) com with your pic, and let us know what the verdict is!

All animations created and/or downloaded via giphy.com

Korin Miller Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more.

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