The Currency of Interpretation

I pondered something on a recent trip to Thailand: Is smiling universal? Do our core beliefs influence our interpretation of other cultures?

 Anyone who has visited Thailand will attest that the Thai people often smile; it is almost infectious to any visitor, and you can’t help but smile back. Not long into our stay in Thailand, we smiled and adopted the greeting of putting our hands together in prayer. It was not difficult for us to reciprocate, yet we noticed it was for other people. My Spanish-born German passport-carrying husband noticed that people who were not smiling all came from one culture.  And he judged, let’s call them culture X as rude. ‘The Thai staff at the hotel always smiled and acknowledged us; what kind of person would not react seeing such a happy gesture?’ he asked. I wanted to delve into the topic as an intercultural trainer and coach.

Probing the internet, I found countless articles stating that smiling is a universal action and that a smile depicts love, empathy, and kindness. Those who smile a lot are said to be confident people. However, these articles failed to recognize the cultural component of smiling. Different cultures have different norms regarding facial expressions. For some cultures, smiling widely at strangers may be interpreted as insincere or inappropriate; therefore, people may smile less in public, reserving smiles for personal interactions with close friends and families.

In Thailand, I further contemplated the social norms of culture X. I realized perhaps maintaining a serious demeanour with the hotel and restaurant staff had to do with their identity as a paying customer and a sense of hierarchy. I wondered what culture X thought when they saw us putting our hands together as the Thai do. Did they think we were strange for our attempts at adopting this gesture? Did they question our concept of customer? There are always two sides to every coin in the currency of interpretation.

In training sessions, I am often confronted by participants enquiring why it is so difficult for a culture to do X, precisely as my husband asked about smiling. Why is it so challenging to smile? ‘Blind people even smile, so it must be innate’, he argued. Darwin proposed in 1872  in his book, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animal, that facial expressions are universal products of human evolution rather than unique lessons in one’s culture.

A new thought emerged as I reflected on my training sessions with global teams. I saw how irritated my husband was; it touched his core belief on how people should be treated. How regimented are our core beliefs? And how much do they influence our tolerance and ability to accept others? You can see how this could play out in an international team, creating misunderstandings and impeding harmony, amongst other consequences.

Culture Y about Culture X – Why are they not smiling? They are unfriendly, rude and cold. I can’t approach them.

Culture X about Culture Y –  Why are they smiling so much? It is insincere and totally inappropriate. It looks suspicious to me.

At the beginning of intercultural workshops, I asked participants about their beliefs, which surprised them, as most participants thought they were about to get a do’s and don’ts list when interacting with different cultures. Participants are often challenged when I dig deeply into their culture and core beliefs because these are topics they have not previously contemplated; they exist and are taken for granted. This is the step in becoming more culturally aware; the insight into other cultures begins with an insight into ourselves.

Post image developed using AI generative image.