Culutures and smiling question

Not so long ago, there was a thread somewhere on this board in which a Doper mentionedd that in some cultures (Asian, perhaps?), a smile meant something else, or could mean something other than a positive state of mind, such as happiness, amusement, and so on.

I think this Poster was implying an association of discomfort with a smile — embarrassment, humiliation, maybe even sadness.

It stuck in my mind, and I often think of this when my wife and I are with our infant grandchildren. All of us — kith and kin alike — are probably like most westerners, always doing whatever it takes to get smiles from the babies. And the babies are only too happy to respond.

So my question is, do these people the Doper described, generally seek to evoke a reaction from babies, other than smiles? Do they (the non-babies) act more seriously around tykes than the folks in our culture?

In my more-than-a-vacation experience in Asia (Japan, China and Thailand mainly), a smile almost always means what it means in the west. This would apply to babies too - people are looking to evoke laughter, smiling, and so on, and they reciprocate.

However, for adults a smile can sometimes be the outward display of embarrassement, anger, tragedy, etc. But it’s important to understand that this usage doesn’t exclude our understanding of the expression.

I was hoping for an answer along that line, jjimm. No kidding, I feel a lot better. Thank you.