Different countries often have very different ways of showing nonverbal communication. Even within our own country people communicate differently. I think one of the most obvious and interesting is how people communicate a simple hello. In many places people will communicate with a wave of the hand, and in some places a simple smile does the job. What I think is most interesting is the avoidance of communication. In some third world countries, women are not even allowed to look at a person to communicate a hello. I think this type of communicate ranges drastically depending on what country you are in.
Another interesting and obvious difference occurs in our own country. One of the biggest nonverbal communicators is the way we present ourselves in public, or simply put, our fashion sense. I know we shouldn't judge people by the way they dress, but it's actually really hard to avoid that. People dress a certain way to send a certain nonverbal message. Most people have enough sense to know that if they dress a certain way then they will be judged a certain way. Fashion trends vary from city to city. Everybody dresses differently but I think we all stick to similar standards of dress, whether that be professional, punk, preppy etc. We all fit into some category that sends a very specific message to the people around us.
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It didn't occur to me that the avoidance of communication is in fact sending nonverbal messages. In fact, I really liked that you pointed that out because not being aware of the cultural customs regarding women, especially in that part of the world can be dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI think that whether it is right or wrong we definitely judge people on the way they present themselves and what clothes they are wearing. People can judge someone wearing baggy pants stereotypically, just as we might assume certain things about a man wearing a suit and tie.
Overall the messages we send or don't send say a great deal about us that may or may not be true. Confusing!