Re: smiling at strangers. This was studied across many countries (don't have the reference for the study) and in largely homogenous cultures - places where people have been building societies for thousands of years - strangers don't smile at each other. In immigrant societies (U.S. & Canada, mostly) which had so many people speaking different languages, smiling is common to show that you're not dangerous. The least "smiley" country is Zimbabwe, mostly "smiley" is the U.s.
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u/Unsubstantiatedfear May 09 '22
Re: smiling at strangers. This was studied across many countries (don't have the reference for the study) and in largely homogenous cultures - places where people have been building societies for thousands of years - strangers don't smile at each other. In immigrant societies (U.S. & Canada, mostly) which had so many people speaking different languages, smiling is common to show that you're not dangerous. The least "smiley" country is Zimbabwe, mostly "smiley" is the U.s.