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Nonverbal communication cultural differences
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Communication is an ongoing process that people use in everyday life. However, the most frequently used forms of communication is also one of the easiest to forget, nonverbal communication. It is necessary to look at each part of nonverbal communication to fully understand its significance. Complex and always present, nonverbal communication is a powerful asset to anyone’s interpersonal communication skills. So powerful that nonverbal communication is the most important form of communication.
“Nonverbal communication is behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning without the use of words” (Floyd, 2011, p. 179). Although commonly referred to as “body language” in popular culture since the publication of Julius Fast’s book of the same name
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They include body behavior, physical characteristics, silence, space and distance, and artifacts. “Body behavior refers to the expression and movement which transfer communicative messages” (Wang, 2009, p. 156). This includes gestures, such as waving a hand to say hello to a friend. Physical characteristics provide nonverbal communication on status, gender, and power. Every society defines expectations for what one wears, which makes identifying nonverbal cues based on appearance simpler within those societies. Wang (2009) describes space and distance as the flow and shift of distance between someone and the people with whom that person interacts. It is as much a part of a communication experience as the verbal words people exchange with one another. Space and distance allow people to convey meanings nonverbally. A less commonly considered part of communication, silence is an important part of nonverbal communication. Silence sends nonverbal cues concerning the communication situations in which one participates. Wang (2009) goes to say that silent cues affect interpersonal communication by providing an interval in an ongoing interaction during which the participants have time to think, check or suppress an emotion, encode a lengthy response, or inaugurate another line of thought. Silence also helps provide feedback, informing both sender and receiver about the clarity of an idea or its significance in the …show more content…
Jensen (2016) has a chart in his article, “Personality Traits and Nonverbal Communication Patterns,” that provides a good visual describing the differences between high context cultures and low context cultures. High context cultures have a greater reliance on context and nonverbal communication than verbal communication. This means that high context cultures have more indirect verbal communication. Thus, the low context cultures have more direct verbal communication with less emphasis on context and nonverbal communication. “Nonverbal communication takes place in specific cultural contexts and is influenced by cultural norms. Cultural norms are social rules for what certain types of people should and should not do” (Chang, 2015). Blahova (2015) found that physical distance is very close and typical of Latin American or Mediterranean nations. Touching, hugging or even kissing business partners is quite typical there. Some Asian cultures, on the other hand, avoid physical contacts with partners. This even means shaking hands is unacceptable, and is replaced by bowing in Japan and China. The angle of the bow is subject to cultural differences and the partner’s rank in the corporate hierarchy, according to Blahova (2015). “Eye contact is important in all cultures, although rules differ about who looks at whom and for how long” (Blahova, 2015, p. 16). In some cultures, respect is often
Nonverbal behavior is channeled by norms and most of us abide by them without being aware of them. Physical appearance, gesture and body movement, face and eye behavior, vocal behavior, personal space, touch, scent/smell, and time are all forms of nonverbal communication behavior. Norms differ amongst various cultures, ethnic, and geographic groups. There are endless ways and forms to violate nonverbal norms, and by doing so can lead to a barrier in communication, which are problematic to distinguish.
In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.
Body language is non-verbal communication where your body reveals unspoken, usually subconscious, feelings and intentions physically. Body language is expressed through eye movements, facial expressions, body postures and gestures. It plays a part in how humans judge you while communicating or first meeting which is what we do when we see a characteristic we wouldn’t tolerate to possess or envy of the person which drives you to find faults within that person. Body language also indicates a persons state of mind; whether they are alert/attentive, bored, interested or nervous. Before language was developed, cavemen and other early ancestors used body gestures to communicate and judge each others body postures and voices to guess what they wanted to get across. Body language reflects who we are. One of the reasons television was so groundbreaking because radio couldn’t display facial expressions and body language. In 1960, Kennedy and Nixon had debates. Nixon was sweating, looking nervous whereas Kennedy wore makeup and looked straight at the camera to show conviction. People listening to the debates on the radio believed Nixon had won and the people watching it on television thought the opposite. After that event, non-verbal communication was taken more seriously.
Elly is a couple’s counselor, even though she concentrates on relationships, she does disclose in additional parts of nonverbal communication. Elly considers that your nonverbal skills involves our listening skills, and responding skills. If you can improve your observing skills, therefore you will improve your understanding, and observing others nonverbal skills. She also extends her knowledge into further various types of nonverbal communication, for example; sign language, deaf, deaf and being blind, children, and adults with special needs, and even babies. Also, animals put off nonverbal communication as well. Elly also addresses other types of nonverbal communication such as; accidental, empathetic, violent, offensive, personal space, dance, sounds, and even touch. Finally, our emotions, posting photos, and even digital manipulation. I would utilize greatly from this article, due to the fact, I found it extremely helpful for myself on the topic of nonverbal communication. There was a great deal of information I was able to obtain from this
Of all communication, nonverbal is the utmost important. In order to comprehend how the use of nonverbal communication affects the success of a leader it is first vital to recognize what nonverbal communication actually is. Nonverbal communication does not concentrate on words themselves, but rather the physical expression of a message. It is imperative to recognize that nonverbal communication can significantly influence the focus of a message (Knapp, Hall and Horgan). Nonverbal cues are always powerful indicators of what the communicator means and feels. These cues include; eye contact, gesticulations, posture, paralanguage, and overall facial expression. However, that is only the tip of the iceberg. In reality, nonverbal communication also incorporates spatial relationships, artifacts, and appearances. Also, environmental elements, such as seating, arrangement and setting have a large effect on leadership and credibility.
Nonverbal communication is rich in meaning. Everyone communicates through nonverbal gestures and motions. I realized that you can decipher a lot from an individual or individuals by just paying close attention to what they do, and that words are not really necessary. Watching two people interacting, I figured that they are really close by their space communication, eye language, and body movements.
Burgoon, J. K. Buller, D. B. and Woodall W. G. (1989). Nonverbal Communication: The Unspoken Dialogue. New York: Harper & Row.
Harper, R, 1978. Nonverbal communication: The State of the Art. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Being able to communicate and socialize with peers is a big part of being in school and preparing for the future. Social skills develop all through the early years of school and kids start gaining relationships because of their verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors. Teachers provide guidance by looking at the person who is talking or using their body language to show that they are listening. Students with autism struggle making friends because their social skills and non-verbal communication aren’t fully developed. For instance,
Nonverbal communication surrounds us all the time. “Nonverbal communication is all aspects of communication other than words” (Wood, 2016, p. 135). It is not communication with words, but we use nonverbal communication when we talk. We use nonverbal communication without even realizing it in every facet of our lives. This type of communication can be challenging depending on someone’s culture. Something that means one thing in America, can mean something totally different in another country. It is important to know this so that you don’t offend someone from another culture (Wood, 2016, p. 149).
Savvy nonverbal emotional communication is also an extremely important resource for managing and avoiding conflict. No part of nonverbal communication speaks louder than your emotions – and nothing can have greater influence over others.
Teaching requires a strong relationship between the teacher and students. Nonverbal communication is vital, if underestimated, in building this trust. Nonverbal communication is “all those elements of a communication which are not essentially linguistic in nature” (Smith, 1979, p. 637). Some aspects of nonverbal communication include eye contact, facial expression, gestures, touch, proximity, posture, vocal qualities, and artifacts (Smith, 1979; Johnson 1999). These all interact with verbal communication and have many meaning that can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. As such, it is up to the teacher to be sure that their intentions are clear.
Nonverbal communication is a very important aspect of communication. It can complement and contradict your verbal messages, as well as help regulate conversations. Some examples of nonverbal communication include gestures, facial expressions, touch, and proxemics. Gestures can be simple, such as waving hello, throwing up a peace sign, and even flipping the bird. However, even repetitive habits such as tapping nails on a desk or bouncing your foot up and down are forms of gestures. In the research article, “Nonverbal Communication as a pain reliever: the impact of physician supportive nonverbal behavior on experimentally induced pain,” Ruben, Blanch-Hartigan, and Hall explore the effects that nonverbal communication have on patients in pain.
...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.
I learned a lot about Human Communication in this class when I read the chapter about Nonverbal Communication. Nonverbal Communication is the process of using messages that are not words to generate meaning. I learned that it happens every day. I also learned that is very hard to read or understand depending on the person you are speaking to or with. Verbal and Nonverbal codes work in conjunction with each other. The words we speak or say are used in conjunction six different ways: to repeat, to emphasize, to complement, to contradict, to substitute, and to regulate. I never knew until reading this chapter that we do these things all most every time we communicate. These are things I took for granted until now. I now know that I will pay