in the same language." ~ Stills & Kantner

British smile not just by pulling back the upper lip but also the lower lip. They bear lower teeth, something not common. To Americans, that usually looks fake, forced.

Russians avoid smiling in public. Smile around those who aren't sufficiently close or in the wrong circumstance and it's deemed an attempt to deceive or that somehow you're hiding something. It's suspicious.

In some cultures, smiles can be signs of amusement or affection. Or it can be the response to negative face when confronted with somebody above you in the power hierarchy dishing out dishonor.



Fake smiles don't produce the same response as real smiles, because they don't use the same muscles.

as we tend to think.

My son had a preschool teacher from S. America who seemed unfriendly because she rarely smiled. But it turned out to be a cultural difference. And it isn't only her country where people don't smile at strangers.

http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/05/culture-and-smiling/483827/

To test this theory, Krys had thousands of people in 44 different countries judge a series of eight smiling and non-smiling faces on a scale of honesty and intelligence. He compared their answers to the country’s rankings of uncertainty avoidance from a 2004 study of 62 societies and ratings of corruption.

He found that in countries like Germany, Switzerland, China, and Malaysia, smiling faces were rated as significantly more intelligent than non-smiling people. But in Japan, India, Iran, South Korea, and—you guessed it—Russia, the smiling faces were considered significantly less intelligent. Even after controlling for other factors, like the economy, there was a strong correlation between how unpredictable a society was and the likelihood they would consider smiling unintelligent.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Smiles are beautiful and highly contagious. Share yours with everyone you meet!

yes indeed

Just saying.

ETA: Then again, the fact that they had Botox probably says something about them. (I'm sure I'll now get flamed by all the Botox-loving DUers.)

they think no one knows but.....I spot the botox-abusers all the time where I live - they have a waxy sheen to them

It's much better when a person can embrace his/her age. I would love it if we as a society could accept aging as a positive thing.

Interesting!

That folks that are blind from birth still instinctively smile at the appropriate times. This says to me that the act of smiling is an evolutionary, universal act that communicates a positive vibe. It's interesting that some cultures have stifled this natural reaction.

Looking at each if those pictures I felt a stronger connection to the smiling face. A cool cross cultural act.

What beautiful faces.

Everyone, be sure to click the link.