Frank Sinatra sang, “When you’re smilin’, the whole world smiles with you.”
But that may not be the case.
Some cultures are much more openly smiley than others.
And this is all due to norms, behaviors, and how smiling is viewed in society.
Smiling is often associated with positive traits such as happiness, attractiveness, competence, and friendliness.
This perception is widely accepted, especially in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies, where most psychological research is conducted.
However, the influence of culture on the social perception of nonverbal behavior, including smiling, is not well-understood.
Recent research reveals that cultural context can significantly alter how smiling individuals are perceived.
Cultural Differences in Smiling Perception
In cultures with low scores on the GLOBE’s uncertainty avoidance dimension, a smiling person may be judged as less intelligent compared to a non-smiling person.
This finding challenges the assumption that smiling universally conveys positive attributes.
Additionally, societal corruption levels can undermine the prosocial perception of smiling.
In societies with high corruption indicators, trust toward smiling individuals diminishes.
This suggests that in some cultural contexts, smiling can have negative associations.
Gender Roles and Smile Perception
The study also highlights the role of gender in the social perception of smiles.
Female assessors are more likely than male assessors to attribute intelligence and honesty to smiling individuals.
Furthermore, the gender of the person being assessed influences the perception of honesty, but only for non-smiling targets.
These gender-based differences in smile perception do not affect the cultural variations in how smiles are interpreted, which is the primary focus of the study.
Practical Implications
This cross-cultural study sheds light on the complex and varied interpretations of smiling.
While smiling is generally perceived favorably, in some cultures, a smiling individual may be judged as less intelligent than when displaying a neutral expression.
In uncertain social conditions, expressing certainty through smiling may not effectively signal intelligence.
Similarly, in untrustworthy environments, displaying unconditional trust through smiling can be risky.
This has practical implications, particularly in the context of globalization and job applications.
For instance, in countries where photographs are commonly included in CVs, understanding whether a smile conveys competence and trustworthiness or negative traits can be crucial for international applicants.
As with our look at eye contact and culture in last week’s blog, this research advances the theory of nonverbal behavior by highlighting how cultural dimensions influence the perception of smiles.
It underscores the importance of considering cultural frameworks in understanding nonverbal communication and reveals that the generally positive perception of smiling can have unexpected negative implications in certain cultural contexts.
Success Across Cultures 