Nonverbal Communication Plus Culture

Nonverbal communication plays many important roles in intercultural situations. As messages delivered within the verbal channel convey the literal and content meanings of words, the nonverbal channel is relied upon to carry the undercurrent of identity ties and relational meaning. Occurring with or without verbal communication, nonverbal cues provide the context for interpreting and understanding how the verbal message should be understood. As such, they can create either clarity or confusion. Usually, however, they can create intercultural friction and misunderstandings for three main reasons. First, a single nonverbal cue can have different meanings and interpretations in different cultures; second, multiple nonverbal cues are sent simultaneously; and third, a high degree of display rules need to be considered, such as variations in gender, personality, relational distance, socioeconomic status, and the situation.

Nonverbal messages are generally the primary means of conveying emotions, attitudes, and our relationships with others, and we rely on nonverbal cues to "say" things that are difficult to vocalize. A quick look away when one attempts to make eye contact with you can be interpreted in myriad ways, from "I'm too busy" to "I don't want to talk to you" or "I'm embarrassed."

Nonverbal cues are defined as those messages embedded in nonlinguistic and paralinguistic cues that are expressed through multiple communication channels in a particular social setting. Nonlinguistic cues can be eye contact, smiles, touch, hand gestures, or silence.

Paralinguistic lies in your voice, and can be speed, volume, tone, or pitch. Multiple channels means that nonverbal cues are sent through multiple channels at once, that is eye contact, facial expressions, and body movement. Sociocultural setting reflects the importance of our cultural norms and expectations in evaluating appropriateness and inappropriateness of a nonverbal message.