Many foreigners, coming to Russia, are amazed at the gloom and gloom of the Russians. The Village publication with Joseph Sternin, Doctor of Philology and the author of the article "Smile in Russian Communicative Behavior", decided to dot the issue in this matter and explain to everyone why it is not possible to smile in Russia ...

In the United States, as in many other countries, smiling is a common, habitual, even reflexive gesture of goodwill. An emigrant from Russia, professor of psychology at the University of Washington, Masha Gartstein, explains: in Russia, a random smile addressed to strangers on...