Smiling is a gesture that many people engage in dozens of times a day without thought. Most people believe that smiling is an expression of good feelings, a simple way to show happiness and friendliness. But does this hold true across time and cultures? 31 In the West, for example, portraits of men and women before the 1700s typically depicted them with a serious, unsmiling expression. The absence of smiles stemmed partly from the attempt to hide their decayed teeth caused by poor dental hygiene. More importantly, smiling and laughter had long been perceived in the society as manifestations of a lack of self-control and good manners. Paintings with white-toothed smiles emerged after the 1700s, with the gradual rise of a culture that valued perception and responsiveness. Recent studies also show that interpretations of smiling may vary from culture to culture. While in most cultures smiling is associated with positive emotions, in certain cultures the same person can be judged as less intelligent when smiling. 32 The amount people smile is culturally influenced as well. People smile more when they are from countries that are high in individualism and low in population. These are often places where the needs and rights of the individual take precedence over those of the group. 33 Newcomers from different parts of the world are found to smile more. Without a shared language, they often resort to smiling to get along with others. For them, smiling is a straightforward way to indicate that one is reliable and trustworthy. 34 As many psychologists now point out, this simple gesture is in fact far more complicated than it may appear.