Understanding Sociocultural Influences On Nonverbal Communication

Cross-cultural communication is about the manner people with different cultural background interact with each other face to face or at a distance, i. e. the process by which people exchange with information. Three broad areas of communication are written, verbal and non-verbal communication, or body language. Some communication styles include direct/indirect, formal/informal and emotional/neutral communication. Direct communication assumes saying what people think without adapting the message to the counterpart. The result is clear and transparent but can be considered undiplomatic by the indirect communicators whose concern is to avoid offence. Formal communication style implies respect to age, status and also requires more formal language than informal communication style. In the emotional communication style it is important to express one’s emotions as it is a significant aspect of self-expression. Neutral communication style implies control of emotions and restricted body language. (Brian and Tomalin, 2013, p10). There can be problems of communication even within one culture and the barriers to efficient communication between different cultures can be poor knowledge of cultural differences, ethnocentrism, stereotyping and fear of embarrassment (Najafbagy, 2008; Brian and Tomalin, 2013).

Communication involves more than exchanging words between people. Gestures, postures, facial expressions and even eye contacts are important during communication. Both verbal and nonverbal cues are important during communication and can help a person understand the speaker or listener’s emotions, attitudes or status. Understanding the existence of various cultures is necessary since different cultures have varying ways of communication (Lustig & Koester, 2012). Therefore, a communication style that is perceived as bad by a culture may be good in another culture. Besides, characteristics that may be essential for a particular culture may be quite irrelevant for another. In line with this dissimilarity, individuals need to adapt carefully and understand communication preferences and desires among cultures.

Cultures provide people several ways of thinking and opinions. When it comes communicating the potential for misunderstandings increase dramatically because translations between languages. Most cultures have their own constricted rules about what is proper communication which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Sometimes by simply not looking at a person eye to eye has a significant impact on how a different cultural per son will receive it. There a several rules to communication which differ from culture to culture and can be sometime wrongly

There are eight key forms of nonverbal communications used on a daily basis. These forms can affect the way people view another person; however, without understanding the forms of nonverbal communication there is certain to be a lot of misinterpretations. Cultural and language differences are a common reason for miscommunication. When communicating with people in different cultures, a person should be extremely aware of the hand gestures and nonverbal communication tools they are using. Many of the hand gestures used in the United States that mean good things, mean offensive and profane things to other cultures. Nonverbal communication is described as body language, hand gestures, and facial expressions. It is known that people reveal more information through nonverbal communication, than words alone to get a point across. There will always be some interaction between two or more people that everyone’s

Body language and various other nonverbal cues have long been recognized as being of great importance to the facilitation of communication. There has been a long running debate as to whether body language signals and their meanings are culturally determined or whether such cues are innate and thus universal. The nature versus nurture dichotomy inherent in this debate is false; one does not preclude the other’s influence. Rather researchers should seek to address the question how much of nonverbal communication is innate and how much is culturally defined? Are there any true universal nonverbal cues or just universal tendencies modified to suit cultural ideals and constraints? It is my proposal that of all forms of nonverbal

While communication across cultures relies on speech to convey the messages of those living in the same society, usually the unspoken language has a larger role to play in delivering these messages. Similar to the country’s language being specific to the region it surfaces from, body language and facial expressions also have individual characteristics within a particular region. There are shared attributes of nonverbal communication across the world but these are commonly divided into high and low context cultures. This results from different cultural beliefs and attitudes within such societies and impact on the social norms of communication. In Japan, the citizens communicate with actions and gestures to a larger percent in comparison to their speech, as they are able to understand each other’s meaning without additional words. Due to it being a high context culture Japan relies heavily on its nonverbal communication for its society to function efficiently and for adequate comprehension to be achieved.

The spoken language, while endlessly useful, is only a recent invention in comparison to body language. Dr. Albert Mehrabian’s often quoted study found that 7% of a message is conveyed through words, 38% through vocal elements, and 55% through nonverbal elements. While these statistics and their meanings may not be so straightforward, the overall take away is clear; nonverbal communication heavily affects the way we receive and transmit messages.

Unfortunately, many of us are ignorant to other cultures forms of communication, yet we try to get by anyway. However, this only leads to confusion, low morale, and ultimately, poor customer satisfaction (Neo, 2015). A notable cause of communication failure is the differences in direct and indirect communication between cultures. Western cultures tend to be more direct and obvious. On the contrary, other cultures are more discrete in the methods used to present their message (Neo, 2015). Body language also plays a major role in communication. To western cultures, a head nod typically represents agreement. However, other cultures are usually only acknowledging the other’s statement (Neo,

As Yang (2015) has researched, eye contact is considered important when communicating with another person in English speaking countries; however, in some Asian, Indian and Pakistani cultures, people may not use eye contact with others as a sign of respect, especially if the person they are communicating with is of higher status. This could create challenges in a diverse classroom, as teachers in western classrooms will need to learn and understand that students may not use eye contact when communicating as a sign of respect, or because of their cultural beliefs. When communicating with people from different cultures that use no eye contact, citizens from the United States may perceive people to be uninterested in the conversation or preoccupied when communication. This may be due to the lack of eye contact used in these cultures. The use of gestures can also create challenges in a culturally diverse classroom, as gestures can mean different things among cultures. Yang (2015) has studied how teachers could potentially insult an international student from China or the Philippines for using a single-upright-finger gesture in order to beckon them over. This could be offensive to the students, as the Chinese and Philippines culture find this gesture insulting. Jandt (2007), and Yang’s (2015) research has shown how eye contact and the use of gestures

In the United States, it is often difficult for someone from one co-culture to participate fully in a group dominated by members of a different culture (Galanes & Adams, 2013). When communicating with individuals from a culture other than our own, it is possible for either party to walk away from the situation feeling that we did not communicate very well. In Lesson 4, we learned that there are many behaviors and social norms that we learn and follow while interacting with our own culture on a normal basis. We must be sensitive to the verbal and nonverbal differences stemming from cultural origins if we want to create effective communication with those we are surrounded by. This lesson has allowed for me to recognize how easy it is to misunderstand members of another culture, and I will now tell my personal experience with cultural differences.

We are in a world today where many cultures interact and option to remain independent is no longer a realistic option. The differences among cultures greatly affect interpersonal communication in innumerable ways. Culture passes from one generation to another through communication and this is immensely different from communicating with individuals of the same beliefs or values. In the Interpersonal Communication textbook, Joseph DeVito says, “Cultural differences exist throughout the interpersonal communication spectrum-from the way you use eye contact to the way you develop or dissolve a relationship.” Verbal and nonverbal messages are sent between individuals no matter what their beliefs or values are like so people need to understand how to make the right choices and send a positive message. Interpersonal communication is an important aspect of life for many reasons such as the fact that we can better understand ourselves and why people act and behave the way

Finally, even though we have a rich base of literature about nonverbal communication across culture in the workplace, it does not yet encompass a solid level on how to understand and recognize the differences as they relate to cultural differences in nonverbal communication in the workplace.

As the Middle East continues to be ravaged by war and extremist threats, over 1.2 million Pakistanis have been displaced, primarily due to insurgencies in north-west Pakistan. After traveling through Iran and Turkey by foot and bus and finally spending two years in a refugee camp in Greece, a 40-year-old Pakistani teacher, her husband, and two pre-teen children finally arrive in the United States. As they begin to settle into their new home, an organization I work with has enlisted me to aid them in transitioning to their new home. They self-identify as followers of Islam, observing most all rules of the faith, yet are unadmitted unsatisfied and distant in their faith.

Nonverbal communication includes visual cues known as body language that arise during human interactions. These cues include proximity, body positions, posture, touch, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact, and can be as important in communication as the words actually spoken. Within the category of nonverbal communication, many variances exist between males and females. Matthew Hertenstein, a psychology professor at DePauw University, and Dacher Keltner found in a study of U.S. undergraduates that “a number of explanations have been proposed to explain these gender differences, some of which emphasize power and status some of which emphasize the social roles of the genders” (Hertenstein and Keltner 72). Since many differences exist between males and females in how they display nonverbal communication, it is important to study these distinctions to eliminate confusion and misunderstanding between genders.

“Systematic research on the role of nonverbal behavior in social interaction has been common only in the past 20 to 25 years.”(Edinger and Patterson, 1983, p. 30).because that statement was published in 1983, it is apparent that the study of nonverbal behavior has been around for roughly 50 to 55 years. However, that is still a relatively recent amount of time compared to research in other science fields such as chemistry or biology. Despite the fact that this field is relatively recent there are many theories about our interaction with others. This paper will discuss the nonverbal expectancy theory along with two other theories, and describe how these theories can work together.