View source for Template:Beyond Fruit - Why don’t Russians smile?

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[[File:Why dont russians smile astronauts cosmonauts 663300 original.jpg|400px|thumb|Guess which astronaut is Russian?]]
Russians don’t smile much, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like you.  In preparation for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Russian workers were taught how to properly smile at the foreign soccer fans who would soon be visiting their country.  In 1990, when McDonalds opened its first franchise in Moscow, workers had to be trained to be polite and smile.  Russians will be quick to tell you that in Russia, randomly smiling at strangers is often viewed as a sign of mental illness or inferior intellect.  To Americans, it might be easy to assume that this says something about Russians — that they are an unfriendly, callous people. But that’s not true at all. Instead, it may be worth looking at why certain expressions, such as smiling, become a key part of social exchanges in some cultures and not others.<ref>Lugris, Mark. (June 13, 2018).   ''Russian Workers Being Trained To Smile More Before The World Cup.'' https://www.thetravel.com/russia-teaches-workers-smile/ </ref><ref>Bohm, Michael. (April 28, 2011). ''Why Russians Don't Smile.'' The Moscow Times. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2011/04/28/why-russians-dont-smile-a6672 </ref><ref> Putnam, Samuel., &  Gartstein, Masha A. (June 2018). ''Russians don’t smile much, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like you.'' The Washington Post.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/russians-dont-smile-much-but-that-doesnt-mean-they-dont-like-you/2018/06/29/beceb9d8-7a21-11e8-93cc-6d3beccdd7a3_story.html </ref>

Some authors have quipped that Russia is a "Bitchy Resting Face Nation". Resting bitch face is a facial expression that makes a person unintentionally appear to be angry, annoyed, irritated, or feeling contempt, especially when the individual is relaxed.<ref>Khazan, Olga. (May, 2016), ''Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling, Finally, an explanation for Bitchy Resting Face Nation''. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/05/culture-and-smiling/483827/ </ref>  

So why are Russians like “coconuts” and Americans like “peaches”?  Why do Russians often think Americans are either idiots and insincere? Why do Americans feel that Russians are unfriendly and cold? Thankfully there are many social science theories that have explored this topic. These include immigration and collectivism vs. individualism.
 


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