Situational Differences in Intentional Smiling: A Cross-Cultural Exploration

Situational and cultural differences, especially in relation to status, in the way persons intend to smile were studied. Forty-two U.S. and 48 Japanese college students rated smiling in situations involving (a) student-professor relationships and (b) student-student relationships. The results indicated that the status of the other person affected the students' ratings of the tendency to smile and that the types of smiles varied in different situations. Some cultural differences between U.S. and Japanese participants were found, though the similarities were far more prominent than the differences.