Foreigners usually note that Russians are surprisingly unsmiling people, write about it on blogs and guidebooks, ask in person, tell it to their friends and acquaintances. Indeed, we smile much less than other ethnicities, but, as it turned out, we have our reasons to do so.Renowned scientist, Professor Iosif Sternin calls the lack everyday smiling one of the features of the Russian character, and explains it by our particular mentality.1. A smile in Russian communication is not a signal of courtesy. Western smiles while greeting mean pure politeness. The more a person smiles the more friendliness he wants to show his partner. The constant polite smile is called "duty smile" in Russian and is considered a bad feature of a person, a manifestation of their insincerity, concealment, unwillingness to show true feelings. Russian smile - is a sign of personal sympathy, not polite one.2. Russians do not smile at strangers. The smile in Russian communication is addressed to acquittances. That is why the saleswoman do not smile at customers - they do not know them. If the buyer is familiar to the saleswoman, she will smile for certain!3. For Russians it's not typical to smile back. If Russian sees a stranger smiling at him/her, he will no doubt seek for the reason of fun. Maybe something in his/her clothing or hairstyle made that stranger make fun of him/her.4. For Russian to smile, there should be a good enough reason for others to see. It gives a person the right to smile - from the point of view of others present. The Russian language has a unique saying that does not exist in other languages: "Laughter for no reason is a sign of foolishness."5. Unsmiling manner of Russians (unsmiling, not gloom - Russians are for the most part fun, cheerful and witty) is supported by Russian folklore, where we find a lot of sayings and proverbs "against" laughter and jokes. "Proverbs of the Russian people" from Vladimir Dal dictionary: "Joke won't lead to anything good" - "Even the laughter leads to sin" - "Both laughter and sin" - "Sometimes laughter responded with cries" - "There is no truth in jest" - "The joke does not lead to good"6. Russians are not expected to smile while on duty, during any serious business. For example, customs officers at airports never smile as they are engaged in serious business. This feature is unique to the Russian smile.7. Russian smile is intended to be only sincere, it is regarded as a sincere expression of good mood or sympathy to the other party.So, if a foreigner smiled at you - it does not mean anything, he was taught to smile at everyone, and if Russian smiled, it was because he has really wanted it. Translated from here: https://cont.ws/post/234198