The understanding of cultural similarity and cultural awareness on the interpretation of Thai smiles

Abstract

This study investigated the understanding of cultural similarities and cultural awareness on the interpretation of Thai smiles employing the mixed method approach utilizing a development design. Thai Smiles Scale was constructed to comprehensively examine various types of Thai smiles. It was incorporated with Richmond and McCroskey’s Ethnocentrism Scale and Gudykunst’s Mindfulness Scale and utilized as the framework for focus group interview protocol. The first key finding is there are at least 113 types of Thai smiles and more non-enjoyment smiles than enjoyment smiles. Some types of smiles contain more than one emotion. One emotion will dominate the smile while the other is less dominant. The second key finding is the ability to recognize Thai smiles is universal and different cultures have various degrees of recognition. The degree of the recognition or the accurate interpretation of Thai smiles varies from culture to culture depending on their use of smiles in everyday social interaction. The third key finding is cultural awareness and recognition of dominant and less-dominant emotions must be intertwined to maximize the accuracy rate of the interpretation of Thai smiles. The fourth key finding is ethnocentrism is associated with mindfulness and both strongly affect the degree of cultural awareness and they can be learned and practiced.