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The importance of nonverbal communication (Go to Quiz3)
--we make important judgments and decisions based on others'
expressions
--link to culture (invisible, omnipresent, learned)
--NV reflects affective status; when V and NV cues conflict,
believe NV cues |
Heraclitus: "Eyes are more accurate witnesses than ears."
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--NV make first impressions Similarities between V and NV communication
--both are culturally agreed-upon symbols
--both are products of individuals
--someone attaches meaning to the symbols
Differences between V and NV
--biological distinction: e.g. a man sees a snake, and he
says, "I am not afraid," but his knees may knock
and his hands may shake
--NV is continuous (e.g. dress), while VC is made up of disconnected
units
--we learn NV at an earlier stage in life
Why is the link between culture and NV behavior meaningful
to IC students?
--to gather clues regarding the underlying attitudes and
values of a culture
(NV communication often reveals basic cultural traits)
e.g. shaking hands vs. bowing (equality vs. hierarchy); Hindu
greeting (belief that deity is in all of us)
--to enable us to isolate our own ethnocentrism (less judgmental
or offended if we understand the cultural differences in NV
behaviors)
Body Behavior
1. General appearance and dress
--American obsession with attractiveness: very young children
select attractive friends
| Thomas Fuller, "By the husk you may judge the nut." |
| --clothing sends messages: occupation;
e.g. department store clerks, when wearing more formal shirts
and ties, are better salesmen.
--people in different cultures value different kinds of beauty
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--U.S. tall and slender women
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--Russia: heavier women
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--Japan: diminutive women
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--skin color
Body Movements (Kinesics and Posture)
| Blaise Pascal: "Our nature consists of motion; complete
rest is death." |
Kinesics is based on two assumptions:
--1. every movement conveys information about the psychological
and/or physical physical states of the person (esp. Distress)
--2. the ability to read into movement is universal
common: when we signal feelings of affiliation, friendship,
warmth, and rapport, we will have more direct body orientation,
lean forward with increased regularity, and be relaxed rather
than stiff
Cultural Determinants of Body Movements
 --U.S. being casual and friendly is valued: people fall into
chairs and slouch when they stand
--Thailand: the bottoms of the feet are the lowest parts
of the body and should not be pointed in the direction of
another person
 --gender difference: women hold their arms closer to the
body
--who goes through an open door first (U.S.); status
--Universals: pointing to an object; flirting and courting
Facial Expressions
| T. S. Eliot, "We put on a face to meet the faces that
we meet." |
Our interpretation of action is more likely to be correct
if
--we take the context into account
--the perceived relationship between the communication participants
(idiosyncrasy)
Orientals exert greater control on facial expressions-"save
face"
Eye Contact and Gaze 
communication functions of the eyes
--indicate degrees of attentiveness, interest, and arousal
--influence atitude change and persuasion
--regulate interaction
--communicate emotions
--define power and status relationships
--assume a central role in impression management
Direct eye contact or not?
1. Depending on culture
--U.S.: yes
--Japanese, Chinese, Indonesians, rural Mexicans: No
2. Depending on a culture's male-female relationship
e.g. Arab culture
3. Depending on race
--when speaking, black Americans use more eye contact than
do whites;
when listening, white Americans use more eye contact than
do blacks
4. Depending on gender
Women look at their communication partners more often, hold
eye contacts longer
TOUCH
--as we grow, touch becomes less important than sight and
sound in sending messages
--we learn the rules of touch
Factors influencing the inferences of meanings of touch
--the mood or state we are in at the time of the touch
--our past helps define the context (often touched or not)
--our perceived relationship with the toucher will affect
the meaning attached to touch
--duration of the touch affects the meaning
--location of the touch affects the meaning
--gender difference: men touch women more than women touch
men, both in work settings and general social interaction
--racial difference: black women touch each other more often
than do white women
PARALANGUAGE
Vocal qualifiers: volume, pitch, rhythm, tempo, resonance,
tone
--Arabs are loud (to signify strength and sincerity); Thai
people speak softly (good manners and education)
--rate of speech: Jews, Arabs and Italians speak much faster
than do the English
--laughing and giggling: Japanese may use it to hide displeasure,
anger, sorrow, and embarrassment
--gender difference
TIME, SPACE, SILENCE
| American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau: "In
human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding
about words, but when silence is not understood." (Samovar
and Porter, p. 223) |
The meaning we assign to silence is contingent upon the following
factors:
--the duration of a silence can have effect on our response
e.g. a professor asks a student a question; the student remains
silent for a long time
--the professor asks another question
--the professor answers the question himself
--the professor calls upon another student to answer the question
--the appropriateness or inappropriateness of silence can
be important
--what precedes the silence
e.g. at a lunch gathering, someone tells a tasteless joke,
and silence follows. What does the silence mean? It is self-apparent.
--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
Eastern
and Western perceptions of silence:
--Eastern belief that inner peace comes through silence
| Buddhism: "what is real is, and when it is spoken it
becomes unreal." (is it true?) |
| Japanese Proverb: "Out of the mouth comes all evil."
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Bible teaching:
--Italians believe that company, talk, and noise are signs
of a good life
--American Indians believe that "one derives from silence
the cornerstone of character, the virtues of self control,
courage, patience and dignity"
Nonverbal Communication (Space)
1. Architectural differences
--division and organization of space lend character and uniqueness
to villages, towns or cities (e.g. Gu Lang Yu)
--architecture may cause confusion and discomfort for the
traveler
e.g. Americans' response to Latin houses: built around a patio
that is next to the sidewalk but hidden from outsiders behind
a wall
--separation of space inside homes also varies from culture
to culture
U.S. labeling rooms according to functions: examples
Japan: sliding walls/doors
--a home or city's design may be influenced by another culture
e.g. a French architect was asked to design an Indian city;
centralized shopping centers requiring public transportation
and movement away from the village centers
Eventually, the Indians stopped meeting each other socially
in their small neighborhoods
2. Privacy and the use of space
--what the word privacy means is culturally determined
--Americans achieve privacy by physically separating themselves
from others
| Hall: "Man and his extensions constitute one interrelated
system. It is a mistake…to act as though man were one thing
and his house or his cities,…or his language…were something
else." |
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