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Classifications of Nonverbal Communication

Body Behavior.This dimension includes appearance and attire (clothing), body movement (posture and gestures), facial expressions, eye contact and gaze, touch, smell and paralanguage (volume, noises, laughing, accents and dialects).

 

Appearance. In intercultural communication, appearance is important because the standards you apply and the judgments you make are subject to cultural interpretations. In the United States, people tend to value the appearance of tall, slender women, but in many other cultures, the definition of what is attractive calls forth a series of different images. In Japan, small size, diminutive females are thought to be the most attractive. In Africa we can see yet another definition of physical attractiveness. Plumpness is considered a sign of beauty, health and wealth, and slimness is evidence of unhappiness or disease or that a woman is being mistreated by her husband. Big and stout people are also valued in parts of Russia. And China has yet another cultural standard for female attractiveness. Many women keep their hairstyles simple (often one or two braids) and make little attempt to draw attention to themselves through self-decoration such as colorful scarves, jewelry, or makeup.

Because cultures are dynamic, it might be interesting to observe if perceptions of attractiveness begin to change in Japan, Africa, Russia, and China as these cultures come into greater contact with Western cultures.

Attire. Clothing – how much, how little, and what kind – is also a reflection of a culture's value orientation. For example, modesty is highly valued among Arabs. In most instances, girls are not allowed to participate in swimming classes because of the prohibitions against exposing their bodies. Of the German culture, Hall and Hall (1990:53) write:

“Correct behavior is symbolized by appropriate and very conservative dress. The male business uniform is a freshly pressed, dark suit and tie with a plain shirt and dark shoes and socks. It is important to emulate this conservative approach to both manners and dress. Personal appearance, like the exterior appearance of their homes, is very important to Germans”.

The Spanish also link appearance to one's rank, as Ruch (1989: 166-167) notes: “Historically, dress has denoted social status.” In Spain, it is not uncommon to see people of high status wearing a suit and tie in very hot weather.

Perhaps nowhere in the world is the merger between attire and a culture's value system more evident than in Japan. McDaniel (2000: 274) makes the connection when he writes: “The proclivity [predisposition, tendency] for conservative dress styles and colors emphasizes the nation's collectivism and, concomitantly, lessens the potential for social disharmony arising from nonconformist attire.”

In much of the world, people still dress in their traditional garments. For Arab men correct business attire would include a long loose robe called a dishdasha or thobe and a headpiece, a white cloth kaffiya banded by a black egal to secure it. Arab women cover their hair with scarves and wear floor-length, full-sleeved clothing, often a long black cloak called an abaya.

Whether it be Sikhs in white turbans, Hasidic Jews in blue yarmulkes, or Africans in white dashikis, you need to learn to be tolerant of external differences so that you do not let these differences impede communication. What you might consider quite a garish costume or excessive formality in dress may very likely be a reflection of a culture's particular set of values. Each culture teaches its members about what is appropriate.

Body Movement: Kinesics. People have always known that action communicates. The study of how movement communicates is called kinesics. In general, kinesic cues are those visible body shifts and movements that can send messages about 1) your attitude toward the other person (standing face to face with a friend - direct body orientation - or leaning forward may show that you are relaxed), 2) your emotional state (tapping on the table or playing with coins can mean you are nervous), and 3) your desire to control your environment (motioning someone to come closer means you want to talk to him or her).

Because scholars have suggested that people can make as many as 700,000 distinct physical signs, any attempt at cataloging them would be fruitless. Our purpose is simply to call your attention to the idea that while all people use movement to communicate, culture teaches you how to use and interpret these movements. In most instances the messages generated by the body operate only in combination with other messages. People usually smile and say hello to a friend at the same time.

Posture.Posture and sitting habits offer insight into a culture's deep structure. We can see the bond been culture and values by simply looking at the Japanese and Indian cultures. In Japan, and other Asian cultures, the bow is much more than a greeting. It signifies that culture's concern with status and rank. In Japan, for example, low posture is an indicator of respect. Although it appears simple to the outsider, the bowing ritual is actually rather complicated. The person who occupies the lower station begins the bow, and his or her bow must be deeper than the other person's. The superior, on the other hand, determines when the bowing is to end. When the participants are of equal rank, they begin the bow in the same manner and end at the same time.

In India the posture when greeting someone is directly linked with the idea that Hindus see God in everything—including other people. The namaskar (Indian greeting) is carried out by a slight bow with the palms of both hands together, the fingertips at the chin.

In the United States and Canada, where being casual and friendly is valued, people often fall into chairs or slouch when they stand. In many countries, such as Germany and Sweden, where lifestyles tend to be more formal, slouching is considered a sign of rudeness and poor manners. In Belgium, putting one's hands in one's pockets is a sign of disrespect. Cultures also differ in the body orientations they assume during communication. For example, Arabs use a very direct body orientation when communicating. The Chinese, on the other hand, tend to feel uncomfortable with this style and normally will carry out their business in a less direct stance.

The manner in which you sit also can communicate a message. In Ghana and in Turkey, sitting with one's legs crossed is extremely offensive. People in Thailand believe that because the bottoms of the feet are the lowest part of the body, they should never be pointed in the direction of another person. In fact, for the Thai, the feet take on so much significance that people avoid stomping with them.

 

Gestures.The power of gestures as a form of communication is reflected in the fact
that the co-culture of the deaf has a rich and extensive vocabulary
composed of gestures. A grimmer example of the power of gestures can be found in the
hand signals used by various urban gangs. The slightest variation in performing a certain gesture can be the catalyst for a violent confrontation.

Gestures are both innate and learned. They are used in all cultures, tend to be tied to speech processes, and are usually automatic. Let us consider a few examples of how gestures can communicate different meanings from culture to culture. We begin with the simple act of pointing. In most countries of Europe and America, people point to objects and even at people with the index finger. Germans point with the little finger, and the Japanese point with the entire hand, palms up. In much of Asia, pointing with the index finger is considered rude.

In Argentina, one twists an imaginary mustache to signify that everything is "okay." In the United States, "making a circle with one's thumb and index finger while extending the others is emblematic of the word 'OK'; in Japan and Korea it signifies 'money' (okane); and among Arabs this gesture is usually accompanied by a baring of teeth, and together they signify extreme hostility." This same gesture has a vulgar connotation in Mexico and Germany, and to the Tunisian it means "I'll kill you."

 

Facial Expressions.At one time or another, most people have been intrigued by how the looks on other people's faces have influenced their reactions to them. The early Greek playwrights and the Kabuki actors of Japan were keenly aware of the shifts in mood and meaning that facial expressions conveyed. Both forms of drama used masks and extensive makeup to demonstrate differences in each actor's character and attitude. People in every culture have been keenly aware of the manner in which the face offers insight into the character of a person. Whether it be the Mexican saying that "One's face is the mirror of one's soul," or the Jewish proverb that states "The face tells the secret," people everywhere have been captivated by the face.

The importance of facial expressions in communication is well established; however, the intercultural implications of these expressions are difficult to assess. At the core of a lingering academic debate lies this question: Is there a nearly universal language of facial expressions? The majority opinion is that there are universal facial expressions for which people have similar meanings. A basic set of at least six facial expressions that are universal and carry the same basic meaning throughout the world are happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise.

Despite the biological-based nature of facial expressions, there seem to be clear cultural expectations as to how cultural norms often dictate when, how, and to whom facial expressions are displayed. Different cultures recognize the power of the face and produce many rules to regulate not only what kinds of facial behavior are permitted in social interaction, but also how it may be even to attend to the faces of others during interaction. A few specific examples will illustrate the role of culture in the production and interpretation of facial expressions.

In many Mediterranean cultures, people exaggerate signs of grief or sadness. It is not uncommon in this region of the world to see men crying in public. Yet in many countries men suppress the desire to show these emotions. Japanese men even go so far as to hide expressions of anger, sorrow, or disgust by laughing or smiling. The Chinese also do not readily show emotion for reasons that are rooted deeply in their culture — the Chinese concept of saving face being one of the most important. For the Chinese, displaying too much emotion violates face-saving norms by disrupting harmony and causing conflict.

The smile is yet another emotional display that is rooted in one's culture. The whole world smiles, but the amount of smiling, the stimulus that produces the smile, and even what the smile is communicating often shifts from culture to culture. In America, a smile can be a sign of happiness or friendly affirmation. Although these same meanings are found in the Japanese culture, the smile can also mask an emotion or be used to avoid answering a question. People of lower status in Japan may also use the smile to denote acceptance of a command or order by a person of higher status when in fact they feel anger or contempt for the order or the person giving the order. In Korean culture, too much smiling is often perceived as the sign of a shallow person. Thais, on the other hand, smile much of the time. In fact, Thailand has been called the "Land of Smiles."

Eye Contact and Gaze. The number of messages we can send with our eyes is almost limitless. We have all heard some of the following words used to describe a person's eyes: direct, sensual, sardonic, expressive, intelligent, penetrating, sad, cheerful, worldly, hard, trusting, suspicious. The impact of eye contact and gaze on human interaction is seen in the fact that people use less eye contact when they are depressed, suffer from low self-esteem, and are uncomfortable in a particular situation.

According to Leathers (1992: 42), there is enough evidence to conclude that in the United States, eyes serve six important communication functions: they "(1) indicate degrees of attentiveness, interest, and arousal; (2) influence attitude change and persuasion; (3) regulate interaction; (4) communicate emotions; (5) define power and status relationships; and (6) assume a central role in impression management."

Culture modifies the amount of eye contact in which we engage and who is the recipient of the eye contact. For the dominant culture in the United States eye contact is highly valued. In fact, most people in Western societies expect the person with whom they are interacting to "look them in the eye." There is even a tendency to be suspicious of someone who does not follow the culturally prescribed rules for eye contact.

Direct eye-to-eye contact, however, is a taboo or an insult in many Asian cultures. People from Latin American and Caribbean cultures also avoid eye contact as a sign of respect. This same orientation toward eye contact is found in Africa. There is even a Zulu proverb that states that the eye is an organ of aggression.

Problems can arise when Westerners attempt to do business with a group of people who believe it is a sign of impertinence to make prolonged eye contact with their communication partners. Arabs, on the other hand, look directly into the eyes of their communication partner, and do so for long periods. They believe such contact shows interest in the other person and helps them assess the truthfulness of the other person's words.

Paralanguage. When watching a foreign movie, you can hear the rise and fall of voices, which may tell you when one person is asking a question and another is making a statement or issuing a command. Whatever the case, certain vocal cues provide you with information with which to make judgments about the characters' personalities, emotional states, ethnic background, and rhetorical activity. Shakespeare said the same thing when he wrote, "I understand the fury in your words, but not the words."

What we have just been considering is often referred to as paralanguage, which involves the linguistic elements of speech, that is, how something is said and not the actual meaning of the spoken words. Most classifications divide paralanguage into three kinds of vocalizations: (1) vocal characterizers (laughing, crying, yelling, moaning, whining, belching, yawning); (2) vocal qualifiers (volume, pitch, rhythm, tempo, resonance, tone); and (3) vocal segregates ("un-huh," "shh," "uh," "oooh," "mmmh," "humm"). It is extraordinary how many inferences about content and character can be made just from the sounds people produce. For example, paralanguage cues assist you in drawing conclusions about an individual's emotional state, socioeconomic status, height, ethnicity, weight, age, intelligence, race, regional background, and educational level. Let's pause for a moment and look at some of the paralanguage messages you receive that help you draw those conclusions.

Volume. As with all other aspects of our nonverbal behavior, culture influences our use of and response to paralanguage. We only have to look at differences in the use of volume to see this. Arabs speak very loudly because loudness for them connotes strength and sincerity, while softness communicates weakness and deviousness. For Israelis, increased volume reflects strong beliefs toward the issue under discussion. Germans conduct their business with a commanding tone that projects authority and self-confidence. On the other end of the continuum, there are cultures that have a very different view toward loud and firm voices. For Thai people, a loud voice is perceived as being impolite. In Japan, raising one's voice often implies a lack of self-control. For them, a gentle and soft voice reflects good manners and helps maintain social harmony—two important values in Japanese culture. When interacting with Americans, people from cultures that speak softly often believe that Americans are angry or upset because of their relatively loud speech.

Accents and Dialects.Accents and dialects are additional components of paralanguage that often influence the communication process. Accent refers only to distinctive pronunciation, whereas dialect refers to grammar and vocabulary as well. The importance of accents and dialects is obvious to those who have found themselves making a judgment about another person based on the person's accent or dialect. Because most people view "standard English" as proper and correct, anyone not using this standard is perceived to be of lower status and/or not speaking correct English.

 

Space and Distance.The flow and shift of distance between you and the people with whom you interact as much a part of communication experiences as the words you exchange. Notice how you might allow one person to stand very close to you and keep another at a distance. You use space and distance to convey messages. The study of this message system, called proximics, is concerned with such things as: 1) your personal space, 2) seating and 3) furniture arrangement. All three have an influence on intercultural communication.

 

Personal space. Your personal space, that piece of the university you occupy and call you own, is contained within an invisible boundary surrounding your body. When your space is invaded, you react in a variety of ways: you may back up and retreat, stand your ground as your hands become moist from nervousness, or sometimes even react violently.

Your response is a manifestation not only of your unique personality, but also your cultural background. For example, cultures that stress individualism (England, the United States, Germany, Australia) generally demand more space than do collective cultures and tend to take an active, aggressive stance when their space is violated. This perception and use of space is quite different from the one found in the Mexican and Arab cultures. In Mexico the physical distance between people when engaged in conversation is closer than what is usual north of the border. Typical Arab conversations are also at close range. Closeness cannot be avoided. Africans get physically close to complete strangers and stand even closer when conversing.

Your use of space is directly linked to the value system of your culture. In some Asian cultures, for example, students do not sit close to their teachers or stand near their bosses; the extended distance demonstrates deference and esteem. Extra interpersonal distance is also part of the cultural experience of the people of Scotland and Sweden, for whom it reflects privacy. And in Germany, private space is sacred (Hall & Hall, 1990:91).

Seating.Culture influences even the manner and meaning in seating arrangements. Notice, for example, that Americans, when in groups, tend to talk with those opposite them rather than those seated or standing beside them. This pattern also influences how they select leaders when in groups: in most instances, the person sitting at the head of the table is chosen (or the leader will move directly to the head table position). In America, leaders usually are accustomed to being somewhat removed physically from the rest of the group and consequently choose chairs at the ends of the table.

In China, seating arrangements take on different meanings. The Chinese often experience uneasiness when they face someone directly or sit on opposite sides of a desk or table from someone. It makes them feel as if they are on trial. In China, meetings often take place with people sitting on couches. In Korea, seating arrangements reflect status and role distinctions. In a car, office, or home, the seat at the right is considered the one of honor.

For the Japanese, seating arrangements at any formal or semiformal function are also based on hierarchy. The most important person sits at one end of the rectangular table, with those nearest in rank at the right and left of this senior position. The lowest in class is nearest to the door and at the opposite end of the table from the person with the most authority.

Furniture Arrangement within the home communicates something about the culture. For example, people from France, Italy or Mexico visiting the United States are often surprised to see that the furniture in the living room is pointed toward the TV set. For them, conversation is important, and facing chairs toward a television screen stifles conversation. In their countries, furniture is positioned to encourage interaction.

Even the arrangement of offices gives us a clue to the character of a people. According to Hall and Hall, French space is a reflection of French culture and French institutions. Everything is centralized, and spatially the entire country is laid out around centers. In Germany, where privacy is stressed, office furniture is spread throughout the office. In Japan, where group participation is encouraged, many desks are arranged hierarchically in the center of a large, common room absent of walls or partitions. The supervisors and managers are positioned nearest the windows. This organization encourages the exchange of information, facilitates multitask accomplishments, and promotes the Confucian concept of learning through silent observation.

Co-cultures also have their own use of space. Prostitutes, for example, are very possessive of their territory. When they mentally mark an area as their own, even though it may be a public street or hotel lobby, they behave as if it were their private property and attempt to keep other prostitutes away. In prisons, where space is limited, controlled, and at a premium, space and territory are crucial forms of communication. New inmates quickly learn the culture of prison by learning about the use of space. They soon know when to enter another cell, that space reduction is a form of punishment, and that lines form for nearly all activities. Women normally allow both men and other women to stand closer to them than do men.

 

Time. When Shakespeare wrote "The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time," he was putting into words what we all know but often overlook. Although you cannot hold or see time, you respond to it as if it had command over your life. Because time is such a personal phenomenon, all of you perceive and treat it in a manner that expresses your character, and – your culture. If you arrive thirty minutes late for an important appointment and offer no apology, you send a certain message about yourself. Telling someone how guilty you feel about your belated arrival also sends a message.

A culture's use of time can provide valuable clues to how members of that culture value and respond to time. In America, most members of the dominant culture adhere to the advice of Benjamin Franklin which tells us that "Time is money." We also hear the phrase "He who hesitates is lost." The Chinese know the Confucian saying "Think three times before you act." Reflect for a moment on how differently each of these cultures perceives time. A culture's conception of time can be examined from three different perspectives: (1) informal time; (2) perceptions of past, present, and future; and (3) Hall's monochronic and polychronic classifications.

Informal Time.Most of the rules for informal time are not explicitly taught. Like most of culture, these rules usually function below the level of consciousness. Argyle (1982: 68) makes much the same point when he compares cultural differences in punctuality standards:

How late is "late"? This varies greatly. In Britain and America one may be 5 minutes late for a business appointment, but not 15 and certainly not 30 minutes late, which is perfectly normal in Arab countries. On the other hand in Britain it is correct to be 5-15 minutes late for an invitation to dinner. An Italian might arrive 2 hours late, an Ethiopian after, and a Javanese not at all — he had accepted only to prevent his host from losing face.

Our reaction to punctuality is rooted in our cultural experiences. In the United States, the boss can arrive late for a meeting without anyone raising an eyebrow; if the secretary is late, he or she may receive a reprimand in the form of a stern glance. A rock star or a doctor can keep people waiting for long periods of time, but the warm-up band and the nurse had better be on time. In Latin America, one is expected to arrive late to appointments as a sign of respect. And in Africa people often "show up late for appointments, meetings, and social engagements. In Germany promptness is taken for granted.

We can ascertain a culture's attitude toward time by examining the pace at which members of that culture perform specific acts and respond to certain events. Americans, because of the pace of life in the United States, always seem to be in a hurry — for them, there is always one more thing to do. Conveniences — from fast-food restaurants, to one-stop gas stations, to microwave ovens — help most of you get things done quickly. Americans are constantly seeking faster computers and cars. They grow up hearing people say, "Don't waste so much time." The Japanese, Arab, and Chinese cultures, for example, treat time in ways that are often contrary to American goals. The Chinese, for example, have a proverb that states, "He who hurries cannot walk with dignity."

Past, Present, and Future. Past-oriented cultures such as the British place much emphasis on tradition and are often perceived as resisting change. A statement one often hears in England when peo­ple ask about the monarchy is "We have always done it this way." The Chinese, with their tradition of ancestor worship and strong pride in their culture's persistence for thousands of years, are another culture that uses the past as a guide to how to live in the present. As a Chinese proverb advises, "Consider the past and you will know the present." Native Americans also value tradition and look to the past for guidance when confronting new situations. These cultures — like the Greek, Japanese, French, Chinese, and the Arab — have histories that date back thousands of years, so they find it normal to take a long-range view of events and are less likely to be rushed when they face decisions. Cultures that value the past are also more likely to respect and venerate the elderly than are cultures that value the future.

Filipinos and Latin Americans are present oriented and emphasize living in the moment. These cultures tend to be more impulsive and spontaneous than others and have a casual, relaxed lifestyle. The Irish, even with their historical problems with England, have much the same view of life and time. It can be summarized in the Irish proverb that states "Life is a dance not a race." This somewhat cavalier approach to life is often confusing to Westerners, who frequently misinterpret a concern with the present as a sign of indolence and inefficiency.

The third orientation, which puts great faith in the future, is the one most Americans have. As a people, Americans are constantly planning for the future, and their children play with toys (dolls, cars, guns, and so on) that prepare them for adulthood. Having an eye to the future often produces a very low tolerance for extensions and postponements. What they want, they want now, so you can dispose of this moment and move on to the next.

 

Monochronic (M-time) and Polychronic (P-time) Classifications.Anthropologist Hall advanced another classification of time as a form of communication. Hall (1983) proposed that cultures organize time in one of two ways: either monochronic (M-time) or polychronic (P-time). Although he did not intend these as either/or categories, they do represent two distinct approaches to time.

M-time is characteristic of people from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and America. People of the Western world, particularly Americans, tend to think of time as something fixed in nature, something around us and from which we cannot escape; an ever-present part of the environment, just like the air we breathe. As the word monochrome implies, this approach sees time as lineal, segmented, and manageable. Time is something you must not waste; you must be doing something or feel guilty. The English naturalist Charles Darwin echoed this view when he wrote, "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." Appointments and schedules are very important to members of monochrome cultures.

P-time.People from cultures on P-time live their lives quite differently. P-time cultures, for example, deal with time holistically. They can interact with more than one person or do more than one thing at a time. This multidimensional approach to the moment explains why there is more interrupting in conversations carried on by people from Arabic, Asian, and Latin American cultures. Africans are another culture that takes great stock in the activity that is occurring at the moment and emphasize people more than schedules. Time for Africans is defined by events rather than the clock or calendar. For P-time cultures, time is less tangible; hence, feelings of wasted time are not as prevalent as in M-time cultures. This leads, of course, to a lifestyle that is more spontaneous and unstructured — characteristics that often confuse and frustrate Americans and other Westerners.

Within the United States, there are co-cultures that use time differently from the dominant culture. Most Native American Indian languages do not even have a word for second, minute, or hour. Mexican Americans frequently speak of "Latino time" when their timing varies from that of the dominant culture. The Polynesian culture of Hawaii has "Hawaiian time," a concept of time that is very relaxed and reflects the informal lifestyle of the Native Hawaiian people. And among Samoans, there is a time perspective referred to as "coconut time," which is derived from the notion that it is not necessary to pick coconuts because they will fall when the time is right. African Americans often use what is referred to as "BPT" (Black People's Time) or "hang-loose time." This concept, which has its roots in the P-time cultures of Africa, maintains that priority belongs to what is happening at that instant. Statements such as "Hey, man, what's happenin'?" reflect the importance of the here and now.

 

Silence. An African proverb states, "Silence is also speech." We contend that silence sends us nonverbal cues concerning the communication situations in which we participate. Observe the poignant use of silence when the classical composer strategically places intervals of orchestration so that the ensuing silence marks a contrast in expression. Silence can indeed be a powerful message.

Silence 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 overall interpersonal exchange. Silence cues may be interpreted as evidence of agreement, lack of interest, injured feelings, or contempt. Silence cues go beyond the verbal channel, often revealing what speech conceals. The intercultural implications of silence are as diverse as those of other nonverbal cues, as Crystal (1997: 174) helps to illustrate:

 

Cross-cultural differences are common over when to talk and when to remain silent, or what a particular instance of silence means. In response to the question "Will you marry me?", silence in English would be interpreted as uncertainty; in Japanese it would be interpreted as acceptance. In Igbo, it would be considered a denial if the woman were to continue to stand there, and an acceptance if she ran away.

 

In the Eastern tradition, the view of silence is much different from the Western view. Easterners do not feel uncomfortable with the absence of noise or talk and are not compelled to fill every pause when they are around other people. In fact, there is often a belief among many Eastern traditions that words can spoil an experience and that inner peace and wisdom come only through silence. Buddhism teaches that "what is real is, and when it is spoken it becomes unreal." Many Japanese proverbs also underscore the value of silence over words: "It is the duck that squawks that gets shot," "Out of the mouth comes all evil," "A flower does not speak," and "The mouth is to eat with not to speak with." Compare these perceptions of silence with the American saying "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." You can easily imagine how the use of silence might create communication problems when people representing these two divergent styles come together. For example, the Japanese use silence to consider the Americans offer, whereas Americans interpret the silence as rejection."

Two points should be obvious from our discussion. First, you must be careful not to assume that people are communicating only when they talk. Second, because of cultural variations in this form of communication, you have to know cultural attitudes toward talk and silence. This knowledge can save you from both anxiety and ethnocentrism in intercultural communication.

 

 

SUMMARY

 

- We make important judgments and decisions about others based on their nonverbal behavior.

- We use the actions of others to learn about their emotional states.

- Nonverbal communication is culture-bound.

- Nonverbal communication involves all nonverbal stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source and his or her use of the environment and that have potential message value for the source or receiver.

- Nonverbal messages may be both intentional and unintentional.

- Nonverbal communication has five basic functions: to repeat, complement, substitute for a verbal action, regulate, and contradict a communication event.

- It is important to remember that we are all more than our culture.

- In nonverbal communication, we often make differences more important than they should be.

- Nonverbal actions seldom occur in isolation.

- Nonverbal communication and culture are similar in that both are learned, both are
passed on from generation to generation, and both involve shared understandings.

- Studying nonverbal behavior can lead to the discovery of a culture's underlying attitudes and values. It can also assist us in isolating our own ethnocentrism.

- Our body is a major source of nonverbal messages. These messages are communicated by means of general appearance and attire, body movements (kinesics), facial expressions, eye contact, touch, smell, and paralanguage.

- Cultures differ in their perception and use of personal space, seating, and furniture arrangement.

- We can understand a culture's sense of time by learning about how members of that culture view informal time, the past, present, and future, and whether or not their orientation toward time is monochronic or polychronic.

- The use of silence varies from culture to culture.

 

 

s DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND IDEAS

 

1. What is your idea of nonverbal communication?

2. How is nonverbal communication combined with language (verbal communication)?

3. In what situations will you need to interpret the nonverbal behavior of someone from another culture?

4. What problems could arise from not understanding differences in nonverbal behavior?

5. Give your culture’s interpretation of the following nonverbal actions:

- Two people are speaking loudly, using a lot of gestures.

- A customer in a restaurant waves his hand over his head and snaps his fingers loudly.

- An elderly woman dresses entirely in black.

- A young man dresses entirely in black.

- An adult pats a child’s head.

6. How can studying the intercultural aspects of nonverbal behavior assist you in discovering your own ethnocentrism?

7. How late can you be for the following:

- class?

- work?

- a job interview?

- a dinner party?

- a date with a friend?

8. What is meant by the phrase “Nonverbal communication is rule governed”?

 

 

REFERENCES

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Argyle, M. Intercultural Communication. In: S. Bochner (Ed.). Cultures in Contact: Studies in Cross-Cultural Interaction. – New York: Pergamon Press, 1982.

Burgoon, J. K., Buller, D. B. & Woodall, W. G.Nonverbal Communication: The Unspoken Dialogue, 2nd ed. – New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.

Crystal, D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 2nd ed. – New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Hall, E. T. & Hall, M. R. Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans. – Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1990.

Leathers, D. J.Successful Nonverbal Communication: Principles and Applications, 2nd ed. – New York: McMillan, 1992.

Malandro, L. A. & Barker, L. L. Nonverbal Communication. – Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1983.

McDaniel, E.Nonverbal Communication: A Reflection of Cultural Themes. In: L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (Eds.). Intercultural Communication: A Reader. – Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2000.

Ruch, W. V.International Handbook of Corporate Communication. – Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1989.

Samovar, L. & Porter, R.Communicating between Cultures. – Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001.

Wood, J. T.Communication Mosaics: A New Introduction to the Field of Communication. – Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1998.


LECTURE EIGHT

INTERCULTURAL TRANSITIONS

*Types of migrant groups * Culture shock * Ethnocentrism * Migrant-host relationships * Models of cultural adaptation (Uncertainty reduction. U-curve model. Transition model. Communication-system model. W-curve model.)

 

Key words:

Adaptation, assimilation, culture shock, ethnocentrism, explanatory uncertainty, integration, marginalization, migrant, multicultural identity, reentry, refugees (long-term and short-term), segregation, separation, sojourners, U-curve theory, uncertainty reduction, W-curve theory.

 

 

Types of Migrant Groups

Migration may be long term or short term and voluntary or involuntary. The term migrantrefers to an individual who leaves the primary cultural contexts in which he or she was raised and moves to a new cultural context for an extended period of time. Cultural transitions may vary in length and in degree of voluntariness. We can identify four types of migrant groups based on these criteria.

There are two groups of voluntary travelers: sojourners and immigrants. Sojournersare those travelers who move into new cultural contexts for a limited period of time and for a specific purpose. They are often people who have freedom and the means to travel. This includes international students who go abroad to study and technical assistance workers, corporate personnel, and missionaries who go abroad to work for a specific period of time. Some domestic sojourners move from one region to another within their own country for a limited period of time to attend school or work.

Another type of voluntary traveler is the immigrant. Although many U.S. Americans believe that most immigrants come to the United States in search of freedom, the truth is that many come for economic reasons. There is often a fluid and interdependent relationship between the countries that send and those that receive immigrants. Countries like the United States welcome working immigrants, even developing special visas and programs However, countries can quickly restrict immigration during economic downturns.

The voluntariness of immigration is more variable than absolute. Some immigrants feel that they have a choice in moving, whereas others feel that they have less choice. The decision to migrate usually is made while other factors intervene.

There are two types of migrants who move involuntarily: long-term refugeesand short-term refugees.Long-term refugees are those who are often forced to relocate permanently because of war, famine, and oppression. They become immigrants when they decide to settle permanently in the host country.

There are also cases of domestic refugees who are forced for short or indefinite periods of time to move within a country. The cases of Poles and Chechens sent to Kazakhstan by the Soviet government before and during World War II or Japanese Americans sent to U.S. internment camps during World War II are just a few examples. Other examples include the continued harassment of Mormons, who fled the East and eventually settled in Utah and elsewhere in the West; and populations that relocate temporarily because of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods. This mass migration of refugees presents complex issues for intercultural communication, pointing to the importance of context.

 

Culture Shock

We now turn to a discussion of the challenges of transitions that individuals experience in new cultural contexts. Culture shockis a relatively short-term feeling of disorientation and discomfort due to the unfamiliarity of surroundings, the lack of familiar cues in the environment. Kalvero Oberg, the anthropologist who coined the term culture shock, suggests that it is like a disease, complete with symptoms (excessive washing of hands, irritability, and so on). If it is treated properly (that is, if the migrant learns the language, makes friends, and so on), the migrant can "recover," or adapt to the new cultural situation and feel at home (Oberg, 1960).

The reactions associated with culture shock vary from individual to individual. For the person who is constantly encountering other cultures, the anxiety period might be mild and brief. However, for many people, culture shock can be characterized by depression, serious physical reactions (such as headaches or body pains), anger, irritability, aggression toward the new culture, and even total withdrawal. All of these reactions would obviously hamper intercultural communication. Therefore, understanding the concept of culture shock and its characteristics and stages enables individuals to recognize their feelings, analyze the cause, alter their approach, consciously manage their own behavior, and regain emotional equilibrium.

Although most individuals experience culture shock during the period of transition to a new culture, they are less likely to experience it if they maintain separateness because culture shock presumes cultural contact. Culture shock occurs to almost all migrants who cross cultural boundaries, whether they have done so voluntarily or not. Most individuals then experience a long-term process of more or less adapting to the new culture. However, for many individuals the long-term adaptation is not easy. Some people actively resist assimilation in the short term.

Some would like to assimilate but are not welcome in the new culture, as is the case with many immigrants to the United States from Latin America. Some people adapt to some aspects of the new culture but not to others. So the relationship between the host society and the migrant is complicated.

 

Ethnocentrism

 

Ethnocentrism is the characteristic that most directly relates to intercultural communication and is most important to understand and overcome in the new communication environment. W. G. Sumner (1940: 13), who introduced the term to the study of culture, defined ethnocentrism as "the technical name for the view of things in which one's own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. "A more contemporary explanation is offered by Nanda and Warms (1998: 6):

Ethnocentrism is the notion that one's own culture is superior to any other. It is the idea that other cultures should be measured by the degree to which they live up to our cultural standards. We are ethnocentric when we view other cultures through the narrow lens of our own culture or social position.

Anthropologists generally agree that ethnocentrism is found in every culture. And like culture, ethnocentrism is usually learned at the unconscious level. For example, schools that teach mainly American history, geography, literature, and government are also, without realizing it, teaching ethnocentrism. When you study only the accomplishments of white males, you are quietly learning ethnocentrism. Students exposed to limited orientations develop the belief that America is the center of the world, and they learn to judge the world by American standards.

What is true about American ethnocentrism is true about other cultures. As children in Iran learn about the wisdom of Allah, they are learning to judge all religious truths by this singular standard. And when China, for thousands of years, "place themselves in the center of the world, referring to their nation using a Chinese character that literally means central state," they are teaching ethnocentrism. Even the stories and folktales that each culture tells their young people contribute to ethnocentrism.

Consequences of Ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism takes on a negative condition and becomes destructive when it is used to shut others out and to provide the bases for derogatory evaluations. These feelings that you are right and they are wrong pervade every aspect of a culture's existence. Examples range from the insignificant ("Earrings should be placed on the ears, not on the nose") to the significant ("We need to build up our defenses to protect ourselves from those religious fanatics"). In more subtle ways, ethnocentrism can cause the alienation of co-cultures from the dominant culture, or one group from another. For example, we often find white-collar workers isolated from blue-collar workers, African Americans living apart from whites, and those with disabilities removed from our sight. The negative impact of ethnocentrism on intercultural communication is clearly highlighted by Stewart and Bennett (1991: 161):

First, ethnocentric beliefs about one's own culture shape a social sense of identity which is narrow and defensive. Second, ethnocentrism normally involves the perception of members of other cultures in terms of stereotypes. Third, the dynamic of ethnocentrism is such that comparative judgments are made between one's own culture and other cultures under the assumption that one's own is normal and natural. As a consequence, ethnocentric judgments usually involve invidious comparisons that ennoble one's culture while degrading those of others.

To fully appreciate the significance of ethnocentrism as a potential problem, you need only recall that culture, by selecting and evaluating certain experiences, helps determine our perspective on reality. For example, if males in the dominant culture value women who are thin, young, and blonde, then they will perceive women who are stout, older, and dark-haired in a less favorable light. If you perceive openness as a positive trait while another culture values privacy, we again have perceptual differences. If you value directness in speech and another culture values vagueness, we might misinterpret what is being said. These three cases are examples of how perception influences communication.

As you can see, when your perceptions are narrow and your subsequent behaviors rigid, you are easily susceptible to ethnocentrism. When that ethnocentrism is excessive, serious communication problems can arise.

Migrant-Host Relationships

There are four ways in which migrants may relate to their new cultures. They can assimilate, remain separate, integrate, or become marginalized. These four modes of relating are described here.

Assimilation. In an assimilation mode, the individual does not want to maintain an isolated cultural identity but wants to maintain relationships with other groups in the new culture. And the migrant is more or less welcomed by the new cultural hosts. When this course is freely chosen by everyone, it creates the "melting pot."

The central focus in assimilation is not on retaining one's cultural heritage. Many immigrant groups, particularly those from Europe, follow this mode of transitioning in the United States and Canada. For them, assimilating may not require adjusting to new customs. The predominant religion may be the same, eating practices are the same, and many other cultural practices (which clearly originated in Europe) are already familiar. However, when the dominant group forces assimilation, especially on immigrants whose customs are different from the predominant customs of the host society, it creates a "pressure cooker." This mode of relating often entails giving up or losing many aspects of the original culture, including language.

Separation. There are two forms of separation.The first is when migrants willingly choose to retain their original culture and at the same time avoid interaction with other groups. This is the mode followed by groups like the Amish, who settled in the United States from Europe. They maintain their own unique way of life and identity and tend to avoid prolonged contact with other groups. Many strict religious groups actively resist the influence of the dominant society. The Amish, for example, do not participate in U.S. popular culture; they don't have televisions or radios, go to movies, or consume popular press newspapers or books. An important point here is that these groups choose separation, and the dominant society respects their choice.

However, if such separation is initiated and enforced by the dominant society, the condition constitutes a second type of separation, segregation.Many cities in the United States had quite restrictive codes that dictated where members of various racial and ethnic groups could and could not live. An example of de facto segregation is the practice of redlining, in which banks refuse loans to people of particular ethnic groups. This practice perpetuates ethnic segregation.

Some people, realizing that they have been excluded from the immigrant advancement version of the melting pot by legal or informally sanctioned discriminatory practices, in turn promote a separate mode of relating to the host culture. They may demand group rights and recognition but not assimilation.

Integrationoccurs when the migrants have an interest in maintaining their original culture and also in maintaining daily interactions with other groups. This differs from assimilation in that it involves a greater degree of interest in maintaining one's own cultural identity. Immigrant groups can resist assimilation in many ways. For example, many Asian Indians in the United States maintain a strong sense of their ethnic identity by celebrating Indian holidays, the Hindu festival that celebrates cosmic good over evil.

Migrant communities may actively resist assimilation in many ways. They may refuse to consume the popular culture products (TV, radio, movies) or the fashion of the host society, often for many generations. However, integration depends on the openness and willingness of those in the dominant society to accept the cultures of others.

Marginalizationoccurs when the individual or group expresses little interest in maintaining cultural ties with either the dominant culture or the migrant culture. This situation of being out of touch with either culture may be the result of actions by the dominant society — for example, when the U.S. government forced Native Americans to live apart from other members of their nation.

However, the term marginalization has come to describe, more generally, individuals who live on the margin of a culture, not fully able to participate in its political and social life, as a result of cultural differences. For example, women from overseas who marry U.S. military men may find themselves living in relatively isolated parts of the country upon their husband's return to the United States. These women, sometimes called "war brides," become marginalized by the dominant society. They cannot find a local community of people with whom to share their native culture and language, nor can they participate in U.S. culture as a result of linguistic, cultural, and sometimes prejudicial barriers. Some­times these women are rejected by their husband's families, leading to further marginalization.

Combined Modes of Relating. Immigrants and their families often combine these four different modes of relating to the host society. Some people may integrate in some areas of life and assimilate in others. They may desire economic assimilation in work, linguistic integration (bilingualism), and social separation (marrying someone from the same group and socializing only with members of their own group). In some families, individual members choose different paths of relating to the larger culture.

As individuals encounter new cultural contexts, they are required to adapt to some extent. This adaptation is a process: it occurs in context, varies with each individual, and is restricted by relations of dominance and power in so-called host cultures. Let's look more closely at this adaptation process.

Cultural adaptationis the long-term process of adjusting and finally feeling comfortable in a new environment. Immigrants who enter a culture more or less voluntarily and who at some point decide to – or feel the need to – adapt to the new cultural context experience cultural adaptation in a positive way. We are not going to describe specific models of cultural adaptation, the contexts that enable or hamper adaptation, and the outcomes of adaptation.

 

Models of Cultural Adaptation

 

The Anxiety and Uncertainty Management Model.Communication theorist William Gudykunst (1995; 1998) stresses that the primary characteristic of relationships in intercultural adaptation is ambiguity. The goal of effective intercultural communication can be reached by reducing anxiety and seeking information. This process is known as uncertainty reduction.There are a few different kinds of uncertainty. Predictive uncertaintyis the inability to predict what someone will say or do. We all know how important it is to be relatively sure how people will respond to us. Explanatory uncertaintyis the inability to explain why people behave as they do. In any interaction, it is important to predict how someone will behave but also to explain why the person behaves in a particular way. How do we do this? Usually we have prior knowledge about someone, or we gather more information about the person.

Migrants also may need to reduce the anxiety that is present in intercultural contexts. Some level of anxiety is optimal during an interaction. Too little anxiety may convey that we don't care about the person. Too much anxiety causes us to focus only on the anxiety and not on the interaction.

Uncertainty can take a number of forms, all of which can interfere with intercultural communication. First, there are behavioral questions that deal with how you should act during a particular situation and with specific people. Should you shake hands or bow? Should you speak English or try your broken French on a trip to France? Should you offer a business card or wait for him or her to offer you a card? Should you ask questions about the person's family or avoid personal topics? In each of these instances, the uncertainty can cause stress. Second, there are a series of cognitive questions that can also bring about feelings of uncertainty and hamper predictability. How does the other person view time? How does the other person perceive women? How does the other person define status?

One point that should emerge from our brief discussion of uncertainty avoidance is that communication is the central tool we use to reduce uncertainty and gain insight into our communication partner. As we have already indicated, however, making accu­rate predictions and gathering information to reduce uncertainty is difficult when you are confronted with people from other cultures. As you have learned in this book, the information you seek is often unfamiliar or even strange. If you fail to understand what a certain action means, how can you use that action to define the situation and reduce uncertainty? When this happens, you can become frustrated. This frustration, coupled with your need for closure, is at the core of many communication problems. It is important to learn the technique of suspending judgment and discover the practice of being patient when trying to reduce uncertainty. You might be rewarded. As the Chinese proverb notes, "With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes silk."

Some general suggestions for increasing effectiveness are useful. The theory predicts that the most effective communicators (those who are best able to manage anxiety and predict and explain others' behaviors with confidence) are people who:

■ Have a solid self-concept and self-esteem

■ Have flexible attitudes (a tolerance for ambiguity, empathy) and behaviors

■ Are complex and flexible in their categorization of others (for example, able
to identify similarities and differences, avoid stereotypes)

The situation in which communication occurs is important in this model. The most conducive environments are those that are informal, where there is support and equal representation of different groups. Finally, this model requires that we are open to new information and recognize alternative ways to interpret information.

Of course, these principles may operate differently according to the cultural context; the theory predicts cultural variability. For example, people with more individualistic orientations may stress independence in self-concepts and communities; self-esteem may become more important in interactions.

The U-Curve Model.Many theories describe how people adapt to new cultural environments. The pattern of adaptation depends on the circumstances and the migrant, but some commonalities exist. The most common theory is the U-curve theoryof adaptation. This theory is based on research conducted by a Norwegian sociologist, Sverre Lysgaard, who interviewed Norwegian students studying in the United States. This model has been applied to many different migrant groups.

The main idea is that migrants go through fairly predictable phases in adapting to a new cultural situation. They first experience excitement and anticipation, followed by a period of shock and disorientation (the bottom of the U-curve); then they gradually adapt to the new cultural contexts. Although this framework is simplistic and does not represent every migrant's experience, most migrants experience these general phases at one time or another.

The first phase is the anticipation or excitement phase. When a migrant first enters a new cultural context, he or she may be excited to be in the new situation, and somewhat apprehensive. For example, someone adapting to a new job in a new city in a new region of the country may experience more apprehension than excitement during the first part of the transition. The same would be true for an international student from East Africa who experiences prejudice in the first months at a U.S. college, or for refugees who are forced to migrate into new cultural contexts.

The second phase, culture shock, happens to almost everyone in intercultural transitions (see above the description of culture shock)

During the culture shock phase, migrants experience disorientation and often a crisis of identity. Because identities are shaped and maintained by our cultural contexts, experiences in new cultural contexts often raise questions about identities.

The third phase is adaptation. Gradually, migrants learn the rules and customs of the new cultural context. They may learn a new language, and they figure out how much of themselves to change in response to the new context. A migrant may decide to change some aspects of his or her behavior and not others. Individuals may want to retain a sense of their previous cultural identities; each sojourner has to decide to what degree he or she wants to adapt. However, this phase may be experienced very differently if the sociopolitical context is not conducive to individual adaptation.

Although the U-curve seems to represent the experiences of many short-term sojourners, it may be too simplistic for other types of migrants. A more accurate model represents long-term adaptation as a series of U-curves. Migrants alternate between feeling relatively adjusted and experiencing culture shock; over the long term, the feeling of culture shock diminishes.

The Transition Model. Recently, culture shock and adaptation have been viewed as a normal part of human experience, as a subcategory of transition shock. Janet Bennett (1977), a communication scholar, says that culture shock and adaptation are just like any other adult transition. Adult transitions include going away to college for the first time, getting married, or moving from one part of the country to another. All of these transition experiences share common characteristics and provoke the same kinds of responses.

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