abstract: the globalization endows the intercultural communication with extreme importance. effective intercultural communication has become an indispensable part of success in international business activities. this article is intended to go into some essential nonverbal factors in different cultures.
key words: nonverbal, culture, intercultural communication
with the development of globalization, the amount of international business activities are increasing at an unprecedented speed. effective intercultural communication has become one of the key factors to guarantee success in business arena. therefore, it is essential to have a good command of intercultural communication skills, among which nonverbal factors take priority over verbal ones. researches show that the majority of the meaning or impact of a message comes through nonverbal means, with only about 40 percent or less conveyed by words or sounds. most of the time we are no more conscious of interpreting nonverbal signals than we are conscious of breathing. when presented with both verbal and nonverbal messages, we consistently find the nonverbal messages more powerful; when conflicts appear between verbal and nonverbal messages, we usually believe nonverbal messages because most of our nonverbal actions are not easily controlled consciously. this means that they reflect a person’s real internal states.
verbal communication is very much culture-bound, as we know, and the same is true of nonverbal communication. different cultures present different systems of nonverbal signs, and often endow the same sign with different meanings. accordingly nonverbal communication can be easily misinterpreted. and the misunderstandings can lead to communication breakdowns and become obstacles to success in international business activities. thus particular attention should be paid to nonverbal behaviors (hereinafter referred to as nvbs) in different cultures. in the following paragraphs will be discussed the most applicable types of nvbs.
body language
i. eye contact
in communication, eyes talk as much as do lips. eye contact is universal, however, the ways of communicating with eyes shift from culture to culture.
the arabs stare at each other for long periods when communicating. prolonged stare is a sign of interest and truthfulness. it’s impolite not to face the communication partner directly. they hate talking to someone wearing dark glasses or while walking side by side. north american whites, the english people and the swedish people expect the person with whom they’re interacting to look them in the eye. such eye contact, they believe, shows honesty and confidence. in america, one who is reluctant to maintain eye contact is called shifty-eyed and can arouse suspicion. hence, white americans are prone to distrust latin americans, who usually avoid eye contact in communication as a sign of respect. however, in the u.s.a., some differences should be noted. for instance, two males who stare at each other like arabs, in most cases, are homosexuals. the navajos and the hopi strongly dislike eye contact. the former consider it evil, sexual and aggressive; the latter, offensive. similarly, in mediterranean countries, people are accustomed to glancing at communication partners, instead of staring, which is perceived as a bad omen. the japanese are taught to look at the neck because it is rude to stare at others’ faces. they consider prolonged eye contact extremely impolite, threatening and disrespectful. in indonesia and caribbean cultures, people avoid eye contact to show respect. in korea, extended stare is rude, the lower-ranking person is supposed to look down first. in muslim countries, eye contact between women and men is against conventions.
ii. smile
physiologically, the action of smiling makes oneself happy; psychologically, smiling pleases others besides oneself. these explain why the whole world smiles. however, the stimulus, the amount, the occasion and even the implication of smiling are culturally bound. without relevant cultural knowledge, on some occasions, one is likely not to please but to irritate others by smiling. in the u.s.a., smiling represents happiness or friendliness, which the americans readily show. greeting others without smiling is unreasonable and unacceptable; smiling at strangers is not unusual, which often disconcert people from other countries. s. koreans regard too much smiling as a sign of shallowness. hence, they usually look serious and don’t readily smile. it’s just the opposite in thailand--“land of smiles”. the nickname is a clear indication that the thais smile a lot. in germany, smiles are reserved for friends. the japanese, according to the anthropologist edward t. hall, are taught to control their emotions. in situations of strong emotion, it is considered acceptable to smile or laugh, but not to frown or cry. accordingly, they smile not only when they are pleased or amused, but also to say “that’s none of your business” to hide expression of embarrassment, sadness and even anger. for them, smiling helps maintain harmony, which is of paramount value in japanese culture. smiling to alleviate tension in negotiation is advocated in japan as well as in china, but it is not the case in america. such behavior will better nothing but to irritate americans more and even convey to them that you admit defeat, because the americans believe that no one can maintain a mellow mood in argument or conflict so the smile is pretended and they hate pretence.
iii. gestures
gestures are quite powerful communicating “tools”. many people take it for granted that they can depend on gestures to communicate if language fails. but after decades of research involving eighty different cultures, experts conclude that “no gesture has the same meaning in all societies. the meaning even shifts from region to region within one culture”.[①]
for instance, the sign－ a circle formed with the thumb and index finger while the others extending－represents “ok” in the u.s.a, “money” in japan and s. korea, “i will kill you” in tunisia, and “you are worth nothing” in france and belgium. in mexico, germany and southern italy, it is obscene. the sign of “thumb up” is equally popular and culture–based. if you thumb up to a greek, he will fly into a fury because greeks regard “thump up” as a vulgar insult; to an american or a western european, he/she will feel encouraged because in the u.s.a and western european it means “good work” or “go ahead”. another common gesture is that for beckoning .to find out the differences in some countries, i made a questionnaire among my overseas students. all the students are well educated and have full knowledge of their culture. hence, the results from the questionnaire are convincing. their answers are as follows:
the s. korean students: when we summon someone to come, our hand is cupped, palming down and the fingers moving toward the palm.
the american students: when one beckons a friend or a peer to come, his/her hand will palm up and fingers move toward his /her body.
the philippine students: we quickly nod our head downwards to signal someone to come.
the japanese students: it is impolite to use gestures. we just call someone to come.
the american students also told me that the s. korean gesture means “good-bye” in the u.s.a. in china, to a peer or a friend, one usually beckons like the americans; to a junior, one does like the s. koreans.
time
differences in time zones complicate international phone calls. but even more important are different concepts of time and approaches to time in different cultures.
people from the u.s.a as well as other north americans believe “time is money.” this value of time is rooted in their ancestors. early in 17th century, their ancestors arrived on the atlantic coast, a new, undeveloped land. to survive the tough environment, they had to struggle day and night. time meant so much to them that they had not even one second to waste. after decades of struggle, they developed the value of efficient use of time, which is one of their most important values and has been passed down. thus far, the americans are still eager to finish things quickly and are impatient with too reflective people. consequently, the americans are often frustrated in negotiations with people who take a leisurely approach, such as the indonesians, the chinese, the japanese, the middle easterners, the latin americans. take the japanese as an example： when negotiating with the japanese, the americans try to get right down to business. they can accept about 15 minutes of social talk, but not more than that, while the japanese are comfortable with hours and hours, and even days and days, of conversation. in fact, the japanese live at a very fast pace as well, but they place a much higher value on interpersonal harmony and uncertainty-avoidance. in negotiation, to establish a good personal relationship with the other side and obtain much knowledge of them the japanese tend to move at a slow pace, talking with their counterparts about various neutral but valuable topics, asking for large quantities of details and planning. on many occasions, the japanese businessmen deliberately move slow because they know well that long waits will compel the americans to accept their requirements.
in some countries, american work style of speeding everything up will have no significance. for instance, in ethiopia, the time spent on a decision depends on its importance. the more important the decision is, the more time it costs. so, the americans are prone to downgrade their work in the local people’s eyes. in the arab east, the more important you are, the faster service you get. close relatives take absolute priority; non-relatives are kept waiting. in the middle east, a deadline, which is often established to imply the degree of urgency or importance of work, will do nothing but stop the middle easterners from working, because they considered it rude, pushy and overly demanding.
another aspect reflecting different concepts of time is the classification of monochronic-time and polychromic-time by edward t hall. people from monochronic cultures, such as the germans, the austrians, the swiss and the americans, do only one important thing at a time. they emphasize schedules more than people and perceive appointments as iron-clad commitments.[②] before an appointment ends, they will see no one else. it’s impolite to answer phone calls during a meeting. in polychronic cultures, people such as arabs, asians and latin americans take an entirely opposite approach. they do several things at once. time commitments, e.g. deadlines, schedules, are taken rather casually, changed often and easily. people and human relationship are much more important than schedules. they won’t make an appointment before visiting others and will meet several guests at a time. miscommunication will arise when people from the two cultures contact. charlies hawkins, a u.s teacher, told me that many a time his appointments with indians were interrupted constantly, not only by private phone calls, but also by long conversations with other people and even the neighbour’s children, which displeased and even offend him.
proximics
it refers to the perception and use of space, involving things such as spatial arrangement and personal space. it contains enormous cultural implications.
draw spatial arrangement as an example. as we know, in american culture, individualism is of paramount value. the uniqueness of each individual, privacy and competition are stressed. these cultural patterns exert controlling influence on american office layout: the size of your office depends on your rank in the company. the higher rank, the bigger office. more important offices are usually located at the corners of buildings and on the upper floor. executive suites will be on the top floor. the relative rank of vice presidents will be reflected in where they are placed along “executive row”. however, in japan, where group cooperation and group participation are stressed (determined by their communal culture), firms see private offices as “inappropriate and inefficient” they would arrange many desks hierarchically in the center of a large, common room absent of walls or partitions .the supervisors and managers are positioned nearest the windows. only the very highest executives and directors have private offices in the traditional japanese company, and even they will also have desks in the common areas. leaders staying in his office would be viewed as holding distrust or anger at the group. this organization encourages the exchange of information, facilitates multitask accomplishments, and promotes the confucian concept of learning through silent observation. in france, everything is centralized. the supervisor is at the center, surrounded by his subordinates. this arrangement reinforces his control over them. in the arab and spanish cultures, their so-called spacious offices are actually very crowded.
personal distance is another important carrier of culture. it refers to the distance one wants between himself/herself and other people in ordinary non-intimate interchanges. it varies from culture to culture. cultures that stress individualism (england, the u.s.a, germany, australia) generally demand more space than do collective cultures and tend to take an active, aggressive stance when their space is violated. middle easterners and latin americans tend to get rather close to others.
conclusion
all these above signals are merely parts of the whole nonverbal communication system and none of them will impact on communication in isolation, but do together with others. on the other hand, some of the nvbs will change with the passage of time. therefore, to achieve effective communication, one should have a full awareness of nvbs and update this kind of knowledge readily.
references
ferraro, g.p., the cultural dimension of international business. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall inc., 1994
ray l. birdwhistell, kinesics and context: essays on body motion communication. philadelphia: university of philadelphia press, 1970
samovar l. a., communication between cultures. thomson learning asia and foreign language teaching and research press,2000
王正元（编著）《国际商务文化》。wWW.11665.coM辽宁教育出版社，2001
