Smile!

October 14, 2009 5:40 AM

Are there any cultures in which a smile is not an expression of happiness?

What about laughter? Are these traditional expressions of happiness universal?

posted by kmtiszen to Human Relations (16 answers total)

It's supposedly one of the six universal expressions.

In my psychology class in college, the prof told us (IIRC) that these are the six expressions/emotions that babies have before they're socialized to experience more self-conscious feelings like pride, shame, etc.
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:52 AM on October 14, 2009

I don't think there are any cultures where happy people don't smile, but there are certainly cultures where a smiling person is not necessarily happy. I've read that Japanese people will smile to mask embarrassment or distress, for example.
posted by embrangled at 6:05 AM on October 14, 2009

Seconding embrangled.

It's very common across Asia for a smile or a laugh to mean "I could just die of embarrassment now."
posted by MuffinMan at 6:11 AM on October 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

The fear grimace looks a lot like a smile but is not, and is really not an expression of happiness (once you learn to recognize it, it makes a lot of movies with primates in them kind of sad).
posted by carmen at 6:55 AM on October 14, 2009

I've read that Vietnamese smile when they are frightened to show subservience and that this made American GIs think they were laughing at them with sometimes tragic results.
posted by mearls at 7:08 AM on October 14, 2009

Kind of outside the box, but in chimpanzee culture a "smile" type facial expression is an expression of fear. "Chimps often produce what looks like a wide-mouthed toothy “smile” but handlers have learned that this is actually a “fear grin” and means you are more likely to get a bite than a hug."
posted by vytae at 7:12 AM on October 14, 2009

Came here to talk about primates, smiles and fear - left satisfied.

basically, what carmen and vytae said
posted by squorch at 8:37 AM on October 14, 2009

I can't speak for other countries, but here in America a smile may sometimes mean "I think you are a stupid piece of shit, completely undeserving of my or anyone else's respect."
posted by Darth Fedor at 9:35 AM on October 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I seem to recall an episode of Northern Exposure where someone mentioned to the doctor that the Inuit (?) people smile when they dislike someone. His assistant kept smiling at him when he told her she didn't have a job.
posted by Solomon at 10:01 AM on October 14, 2009

Recently read a bit about Thailand -- The Geography of Bliss (non-fiction), Bangkok Tattoo (fiction) -- and both mention that a Thai smile is not always an expression of happiness. There are many meanings and many sorts of smiles but the westerner will read them generally as smile = happy. Not sure how accurate that is....
posted by countrymod at 10:49 AM on October 14, 2009

Just about everyone I know laughs when they're nervous. I've seen it in movies, too. I've also experienced the "sympathy smile", done when you feel sorry for someone and are wishing them better.
posted by shesaysgo at 11:08 AM on October 14, 2009

A sociology professor I once had told a story in class in which she was meeting with a new exchange student. She smiled at him as he approached and he instantly drew back in fear. She asked him why he did that and he replied that where he was from, smiling meant, "I am about to kill you."

I always thought that story was just total BS, but I thought I'd share it on the chance that it's true. That's all there was to the story, so I don't have a country or region or anything that this student was supposed to be from.
posted by bristolcat at 12:04 PM on October 14, 2009

Many Hmong smile when they're uncomfortable, so I suspect it is common in parts of Asia.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:06 PM on October 14, 2009

I remember reading something about kids that were born blind breaking out into spontaneous and unprompted smiles when they were happy?

Anyway try Paul Ekman? If he can't answer your question, I don't know who can :)
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 4:44 PM on October 14, 2009

It's very common across Asia for a smile or a laugh to mean "I could just die of embarrassment now."

In the US, these are also very common things for people to do when they are embarrassed.
posted by yohko at 7:39 AM on October 15, 2009

I seem to recall an episode of Northern Exposure where someone mentioned to the doctor that the Inuit (?) people smile when they dislike someone. His assistant kept smiling at him when he told her she didn't have a job.

I grew up in rural Alaska, and have traveled around the state extensively. I've never heard this anywhere. As far as I can tell, a smile among Native Alaskans (Eskimo [Yup'ik & Inupiat] Alaskan Indian, Aleut) means the same thing it does anywhere else.

- AJ
posted by Alaska Jack at 12:02 AM on October 18, 2009