Chapter 6 Oral and Nonverbal Communication Patterns 2011

Topics • • Evaluate thought patterns Understand paralanguage Appreciate attitudes toward time and use of space Understand the role that eye contact, smell, color, touch, and body language play • Learn how silence is used • Recognize nonverbal leakage © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 2

What is meant by nonverbal communication? Nonword messages, such as gestures, facial expressions, interpersonal distance, touch, eye contact, smell, and silence. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 3

Cultural Differences in Patterns of Thought or Processes of Reasoning and Problem Solving • Deductive reasoning - going from broad categories or observations to specific examples; U. S. persons use deductive reasoning. • Inductive reasoning - start with facts or observations and go to generalizations; Asians use inductive reasoning. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 4

Thought Patterns Include Speed of Making Decisions • U. S. managers make quick decisions. • The Japanese use a slower method of problem solving. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 5

What is meant by paralanguage? Refers to rate, volume, and quality that affects the meaning of the message. • What does an increased rate of speech signify? impatience or anger • What does an increased volume indicate? perhaps anger or a desire to be heard © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 6

Differences in loudness of speech is culture specific and gender specific: • Arabs speak loudly; this is an indication of strength and sincerity. • People of the Philippines and Thailand speak softly; it indicates breeding and education. • Males usually speak louder than females and at a lower pitch than females. • Rate of speech varies with the region of the U. S. ; Northerners speak faster than Southerners. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 7

Nonverbals • • Chronemics (time) Proxemics (space) Oculesics (gaze/eye contact) Olfactics (smell) Haptics (touch) Kinesics (body language) Chromatics (color) Silence © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 8

Time (Chronemics) • Attitudes toward time vary from culture to culture. • Countries that follow monochronic time perform only one major activity at a time (U. S. , England, Switzerland, Germany). • Countries that follow polychronic time work on several activities simultaneously (Latin America, the Mediterranean, the Arabs). © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 9

Monochronic/Polychronic Cultures Monochronic People • do one thing at a time • concentrate on the job • take time commitments seriously • are committed to the job • show respect for private property; rarely borrow or lend • are accustomed to short-term relationships Polychronic People • do many things at once • are highly distractible • consider time commitments casually • are committed to people • borrow and lend things often • tend to build lifetime relationships © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 10

Cultural Differences in Attitudes Toward Time • U. S. persons are very time conscious and value punctuality. Being late for meetings is viewed as rude and insensitive behavior; tardiness also conveys that the person is disorganized. • Germans and Swiss people are even more time conscious; people of Singapore and Hong Kong also value punctuality. • Algerians do not regard punctuality as important; Latin American countries have a mañana attitude; people in Arab cultures have a casual attitude toward time. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 11

Space (Proxemics) People in the U. S. tend to need more space than do persons of other cultures. U. S. persons back away when people stand too close. Standing too close is interpreted as being pushy or overbearing or may also be interpreted as unwelcomed sexual advances. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 12

Space Zones in the U. S. • The intimate zone (less than 18 inches) is reserved for very close friends. • The personal zone (18 inches to 4 feet) is for giving instructions to others or working closely with another person. • The social zone (4 to 12 feet) is used in business situations in which people interact in a formal, impersonal way. • The public distance is over 12 feet. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 13

U. S. people need more space than do Greeks, Latin Americans, or Arabs. The

Elevator Proxemics A psychology professor at a southern university gave his students an assignment to test elevator proxemics. Students reported the usual U. S. behaviors of facing the front and watching the illuminated floor indicator, assuming the Fig Leaf Position (hands/purses/ briefcases hanging down in front of the body), and positioning themselves in the corners or against the elevator walls. Then the professor added another assignment: students were to break the rules and get on the elevator, stand at the front facing the other occupants and jump backward off the elevator just before the door closed. One of the elevator occupants was heard to whisper, “Call 911; we’ve got a real weirdo here” (Axtell, 1998). © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 15

The Office Environment and Nonverbal Messages • U. S. persons prefer desks and chairs in a face-to-face arrangement or at right angles, while the Chinese prefer the side-by-side arrangement. • In the U. S. outside offices with windows have more status than inside offices; large offices have more status than small ones; the top floor has more status than the first floor. • French top-level executives occupy the middle of an office area with subordinates around them. • The Japanese do not consider private offices appropriate; only the highest ranking officers have private offices and may have desks in large work areas as well. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 16

Gaze/Eye Contact (Oculesics) Although people in the U. S. favor direct eye contact, in other cultures, such as the Japanese, the reverse is true; they direct their gaze below the chin. In the Middle East, on the other hand, the eye contact is more intense than U. S. people are comfortable with. A prolonged gaze or stare in the U. S. is considered rude. In most cultures, men do not stare at women as this may be interpreted as sexually suggestive. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 17

Smell (Olfactics) • Although people of the U. S. respond negatively to body odors, Arabs are comfortable with natural body odors. • Other cultures in which smell plays an important role include the Japanese and Samoans. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 18

Touch (Haptics) • Touch, when used properly, may create feelings of warmth and trust; when used improperly, touch may cause annoyance and betray trust. • Hierarchy is a consideration when using touch in the U. S. : people who are older or higher rank may touch those who are younger or of lower rank; equals may touch each other. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 19

“Don't Touch” Cultures • • • Japan U. S. and Canada England Scandinavia Other

Middle Ground Countries • • • Australia France China Ireland India Middle East countries

“Touch” Cultures • Latin American countries • Italy • Greece • Spain and Portugal

Location of the Touch Is Important • Appropriate touch in the U. S. is limited to shaking hands in business situations - no hugs or expressions of affection. • In Thailand do not touch the head. • Do not touch Asians on the shoulders or even the back of the worker's chair. • Avoid touching a person with the left hand in the Middle East. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 23

Several years ago, when President Carter was mediating peace talks between Egypt and Israel, Anwar Sadat frequently placed his hand on President Carter’s knee. While this subtextual message was intended as a gesture of warm friendship, the subtler message Sadat was conveying to the world was that he was President Carter’s equal. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 24

Body Language (Kinesics) • Body language includes facial expressions, gestures, and posture and stance. • To interpret facial expressions correctly, it is important to take the culture and the communication context into account. • People in some cultures rarely show emotion (China); Asians will smile or laugh softly when they are embarrassed. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 25

Facial Expressions • The face and eyes convey the most expressive types of body language, including happiness, surprise, fear, anger, interest, and determination. • Facial expressions must be controlled when they are inappropriate to the setting (yawning during a presentation). © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 26

Gestures • Emblems or symbols ("V" for victory) • Illustrators (police officer's hand held up to stop traffic) • Regulators (glancing at watch when in a hurry) • Affect displays (a person's face turns red with embarrassment) © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 27

General Guidelines U. S. Gestures • Interest is expressed by maintaining eye contact with the speaker, smiling, and nodding the head. • Open-mindedness is expressed by open hands and palms turned upward. • Nervousness is sometimes shown by fidgeting, failing to give the speaker eye contact, or jingling keys or money in one’s pocket. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 28

General Guidelines U. S. Gestures • Suspiciousness is indicated by glancing away or touching the nose, eyes, or ears. • Defensiveness is indicated by crossing the arms over the chest, making fisted gestures, or crossing the legs. • Lack of interest or boredom is indicated by glancing repeatedly at one’s watch or staring at the ceiling or floor or out the window when the person is speaking. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 29

Additional Guidelines for Gesturing in Various Cultures • The “V” for victory gesture (holding two fingers upright, with palm and fingers faced outward) is widely used in the United States and many other countries. In England, however, it has a crude connotation when used with the palm in. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 30

The vertical horns gesture (raised fist, index finger and little finger extended) • Has a positive connotation associated with the University of Texas Longhorn football team • Has an insulting connotation in Italy • Is a sign for good luck in Brazil and Venezuela • In other cultures, such as Italy and Malta, the horns are a symbol to ward off evil spirits • This symbol has various meanings in U. S. subcultures and should be used only when you are sure the other person understands its intended meaning © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 31

Other Gestures • The thumbs-up gesture has been widely recognized as a positive signal meaning “everything is O. K. ” or “good going. ” Although well known in North America and most of Europe, in Australia and West Africa it is seen as a rude gesture. • The head nod in most countries means “yes, ” but in Bulgaria it means “no. ” © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 32

Other Gestures • The “O. K. ” sign (thumb and forefinger joined to form a circle) is a positive gesture in the U. S. , while in Brazil it is considered obscene. The gesture has still another meaning in Japan: money. • The beckoning gesture (fingers upturned, palm facing the body) sometimes used by U. S. people to summon a waiter is offensive to Filipinos as it is used to beckon animals and prostitutes. Vietnamese and Mexicans also find it offensive. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 33

Other Gestures A U. S. engineer, sent to Germany by his company who had purchased a German firm, was working side by side with a German engineer on a piece of equipment. When the U. S. engineer made a suggestion for improving the new machine, the German engineer followed the suggestion and asked his U. S. counterpart whether or not he had done it correctly. The reply was the U. S. “OK” gesture, making a circle with the thumb and forefinger. The German engineer put down his tools and walked away, refusing to talk to the U. S. engineer. The U. S. engineer later learned from one of the supervisors the significance of this gesture to a German: “You asshole. ” © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 34

Posture and Stance • Posture can convey self-confidence, status, and interest. • Confident people have a relaxed posture, yet stand erect and walk with assurance. • Walking with stooped shoulders and a slow, hesitating gait projects negative messages of lack of confidence. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 35

• Interest is demonstrated by leaning forward toward the person with whom you are conversing. • The posture of U. S. persons is casual, including sitting in a relaxed manner and slouching when standing (considered rude in Germany). • Posture when seated varies with the culture; U. S. persons often cross their legs while seated (women at the ankle and men with the ankle on the knee). © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 36

• Most Middle Easterners would consider crossing the leg with the ankle on the knee inappropriate. • Avoid showing the sole of your shoe or pointing your foot at someone in the Arab world. • Follow the lead of persons of the other culture; assume the posture they assume. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 37

Color (Chromatics) • Colors have cultural variations in connotations. – Black is the color of mourning in the U. S. , but white is worn to funerals by the Japanese. – In the U. S. white is typically worn by brides, while in India red or yellow is worn. – Purple is sometimes associated with royalty, but it is the color of death in Mexico and Brazil. – Red (especially red roses) is associated with romance in some cultures including the U. S. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 38

Color (Chromatics) United Airlines unknowingly got off on the wrong foot during its initial flights from Hong Kong. To commemorate the occasion, they handed out white carnations to the passengers. When they learned that to many Asians white flowers represent bad luck and even death, they changed to red carnations. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 39

Nonverbal Leakage • Occurs when people are unsuccessful in attempting to control messages sent nonverbally. • While people are successful in controlling facial expressions, leakage occurs in the arms, hands, feet, and legs; these areas are difficult to control. • Identified in U. S. culture by physiological changes such as pupil size, as well as licking lips and tapping fingers on a table. © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 40