Someone asked me something serious and I answered “no” with a huge involuntary grin on my face. Why do we smile/laugh when we’re nervous, unable to control it?
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It’s a conditioned response.
When we’re babies (western children especially), we learn that smiling makes our parents happy, but we don’t really know what’s going on or why. Babies want to survive, and making the people who feed and care for you happy is a good way to survive.
When you’re nervous as an adult or adolescent, you default to that setting and grin to make the other person comfortable and not feel like you do, regardless of whether or not it is appropriate to do so.
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