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Cultural differences

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, photographs didn't often depict smiling people in accordance to cultural conventions of Victorian and Edwardian culture. In contrast, the photograph Eating Rice, China reflects differing cultural attitudes of the time, depicting a smiling Chinese man.[7] While smiling is perceived as a positive emotion most of the time, there are many cultures that perceive smiling as a negative expression and consider it unwelcoming. Too much smiling can be viewed as a sign of shallowness or dishonesty.[8] In some parts of Asia, people may smile when they are embarrassed or in emotional pain. Some people may smile at others to indicate a friendly greeting. A smile may be reserved for close friends and family members. Many people in the former Soviet Union area consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even suspicious behavior,[9] or even a sign of stupidity.[10]

Systematic large cross-cultural study on social perception of smiling individuals[11] documented that in some cultures a smiling individual may be perceived as less intelligent than the same non-smiling individual (and that cultural uncertainty avoidance may explain these differences). Furthermore, the same study showed that corruption at the societal level may undermine the prosocial perception of smiling—in societies with high corruption indicators, trust toward smiling individuals is reduced.

There can also be gender differences. In the United States and the United Kingdom, women report men telling them to smile. For example, Greg Rickford, a member of the British Parliament told a female journalist to smile rather than answer the question she had asked.[12] Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher states that while this could be either caring or controlling behavior, such behavior is unlikely to be welcome.[13] The subject has been covered in the book Stop Telling Women to Smile[14] by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. Dimples

Long term effects

Based on a study from Ernest L Abel and Michael L Kruger conducted at Wayne State University, Baseball players who were smiling in their pictures had longer lifespans on average then those that did not smile, indicating that smiling is associated with longevity.

In another study, those found with bigger smiles in their yearbook pictures had longer lasting marriages, did better in school, and reported being happier as a result.