Is it an Aspie trait to only smile when it makes sense to?

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dunno if its autism related but i can relate.

im not really aware of my facial expressions and so my dad used to tell me to smile more and i would say "i am smiling" and he said "no.... your not."

There's a "social smile" that people do - sort of a "happy to see you" signal. I sometimes imitate that because not to do it can be interpreted as being displeased at someone. I tend not to be too spontaneous with smiling or frowning, though, because if I do it at an inappropriate time, like if someone makes a mistake or is really proud of something and I laugh thinking they're trying to be humorous, it has led to trouble. When I'm alone, I just smile if I'm happy and frown if I'm sad. There are some things though that just make me smile and laugh automatically - usually non-verbal ones like the image I'm attaching here. Something about this image just bypasses all the internal censoring.

Well, the image attachment didn't work. I duplicated it here:
https://www.minds.com/media/737830329468854272

I'm not sure, but my sister can't smile unless she is happy and she does show some other red flags for an ASD. We tried to get her picture taken at a studio once, and she just jumped up and down and flapped her hands around instead of smiling. The only good pictures we kept were ones where she was kind of smiling, but it was a completely fake smile.

I have such a photographic memory that I often smile or laugh out loud just thinking about something that made me happy or was really funny. And then I worry other people will think I'm psycho. But it makes sense to do that too, right? When we think about good things, they usually make us feel happy, and when we think about bad things they make us feel scared or upset.

Of course, the professionals think we can just easily turn the unpleasant thoughts off like a TV set.

You seem sensible to me. I'd rather smile than not, but there has to be sense and reason for it. I don't like people with a perpetual sourpuss expression, but I don't like fake smiles, either. I know people who smile as if it hurts. They are often phony people.

The "fake smile" to me has generally been a trait of superficial people. It could also be a survival mechanism if you don't really understand something and are too stressed or don't have the spoken vocabulary to express your confusion. I have at times smiled to convey I was listening to what others have said, but I was afraid to say I didn't really understand. I feel for those who don't have the spoken language to express themselves. I read a story about a little girl a family adopted from Serbia who had been in an institution her entire life and was entirely non-verbal. Her adoptive mother said she had a "survival smile" that arose from confusion about her environment.

I think it could be an aspie trait. I would think we'd be more likely to smile only if we're amused or happy (although I might or might not smile then, it varies), while Nts would be likely to also smile to communicate and bond.

I know I smile when I think of something I like, such as cute cat videos or my favorite tennis players. I love watching Denis Istomin's interviews because he always has such a sweet smile and a good sense of humor.