Roles Of Nonverbal Communication In Intercultural Interactions

Although our cultures commit us to different ways of expressing ourselves without words, we are much more similar than we might think. As Dr. Matsumoto points out, the scientific data on most all psychological processes, attributes and behaviors shows that the cultural differences among us are much smaller than our individual differences. Despite our tendency to lose sight of our similarities and, instead, to highlight our differences, “the majority of people in the world want to get along,” says Matsumoto. That’s when our non-verbal abilities can help us to better relate to other members of our human family. These types of exclamations are often verbal responses to a surprising stimulus.

What Is The Impact Of Non-verbal Language Barriers On Intercultural Communication?

It combines both language and nonverbal cues and is the meta-message that dictates how listeners receive and interpret verbal messages. Of the theoretical perspectives proposed to understand cultural variations in communication styles, the most widely cited one is the differentiation between high-context and low-context communication by Edward Hall, in 1976. Nonverbal communication plays a crucial role in intercultural interactions by conveying emotions, attitudes, and regulating conversation dynamics. It helps bridge cultural differences and facilitates effective communication between individuals from different backgrounds. Contact cultures are cultural groups in which people stand closer together, engage in more eye contact, touch more frequently, and speak more loudly. Italians are especially known for their vibrant nonverbal communication in terms of gestures, volume, eye contact, and touching, which not surprisingly places them in the contact culture category.

• In addition, we will provide practical advice, relevant information from experts and predictions on future trends in this field.
• We can also use nonverbal communication to express identity characteristics that do not match up with who we actually think we are.
• In general, it is good practice to anticipate nonverbal expectations to the degree possible.
• Conversely, in some situations, verbal communication might carry more meaning than nonverbal.

These examples illustrate the relevance and direct application of understanding non-verbal communication in real contexts, which contributes to a deeper and more meaningful understanding of this subject. Even Europeans and Americans do not have that much acceptance on the breach of physical distance and less acceptance for it among Asians. In an intercultural context, when our interlocutors don’t share our linguistic and cultural backgrounds, non-verbal communication takes on a particularly poignant role. It can make the difference between appearing authentic and being misunderstood. It can help us speak and read volumes without understanding a word of each other’s languages.

Cultural sensitivity and education in cultural intelligence will play a key role in promoting effective intercultural communication. Often, our facial expressions, gestures, body postures and voice tone convey more information than just our words. However, the interpretation of non-verbal communication varies significantly between different cultures, which can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts if not handled with sensitivity and understanding.

However, nonverbal communication is ambiguous, and in different cultures varies, making it essential to understand cultural contexts to communicate effectively. It helps to express emotions, convey attitudes, regulate affect, and facilitate conversation. Nonverbal cues are essential for understanding and interpreting the meaning behind verbal messages. They include body language, facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, and tone of voice.

However, in America, maintaining eye contact with supervisors means that person is confident and honest. Similarly, in Germany, people usually will not break eye contact during their talking. When a person is laughing or smiling, it may not simply mean they are happy when you consider broader cultural context. For example, in Japan, people smiling or laughing might mean they are angry and are trying to conceal it. However, in American culture and some European cultures, people usually do not hide their real emotions, and are more straightforward.

Touch

Persistent mixed messages can lead to relational distress and hurt a person’s credibility in professional settings. Nonverbal communication usually contains more contexts than verbal communication. People may be able to lie verbally, but their nonverbal language, such as hand gestures and eye contact, are not easy to disguise. Different cultures have distinct interpretation toward nonverbal communication. Non-verbal communication does a lot to convey messages as people engage with one another.

Since most of our communication relies on visual and auditory channels, those will be the focus of this chapter. But we can also receive messages and generate meaning through touch, taste, and smell. In keeping with their instrumental view of talk, masculine speech community members may also offend people from the feminine speech community if they are seen to be ignoring cues for mutual disclosure or supportive statements.

Facial expressions are mostly similar in most cultures as many of them like smile and cry are innate. Teachers who are judged as less immediate are more likely to sit, touch their heads, shake instead of nod their heads, use sarcasm, avoid eye contact, and use less expressive nonverbal behaviors. Nonverbal communication can be used to influence people in a variety of ways, but the most common way is through deception. Deception is typically thought of as the intentional act of altering information to influence another person, which means that it extends beyond lying to include concealing, omitting, or exaggerating information. While verbal communication is to blame for the content of the deception, nonverbal communication partners with the language through deceptive acts to be more convincing.

It is also the case that in many contexts we are able to assert control over our expressions. Codes of general conduct, politeness, or social harmony may influence the public display of emotions. This was shown in a cross-cultural experiment (Matsumoto & Ekman, 1989), which studied expressions of Japanese and US students while watching emotionally disturbing films.

Studies also show that the distribution of household work remains uneven between men and women, with women straddled with the majority of household chores, despite spending equal amounts of time outside the home earning income. Scholars have found that in households where both partners view their chores as being evenly shared, both partners are also more likely to report high satisfaction with their sex life (Gager & Yabiku, 2010). However, as a product of social conditioning, and in order to appease long-held social customs that have developed around gender binaries, there are some documented differences in the ways that most men and women interact. This is particularly true when they are interacting with other members of their own gender. Our monthly newsletter provides the latest insights on cultural competence, team collaboration, and is Rondevo safe? workplace learning.