I’m not sure how scientific this study was, but Smile…But Britons May Not Smile with You presents some wild numbers:
Psychology students spent an hour smiling at 100 strangers in 14 British cities as part of the Comic Relief fundraising campaign, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.Only 4% of people in Edinburgh, 12% in Nottingham and 18% in London returned the students’ smiles.
On the other hand, the residents of Bristol smiled back 70% of the time, and 68% of Glasgow citizens were cheery enough to raise the corners of their mouths.
Just 4% in Edinburgh versus 70% in Bristol? Those are some grumpy Scots.