Friday, March 13, 2009
Chapter 5 Question #2
I have lived in the bay area my whole entire life so I have not encountered regional differences in nonverbal meaning. I also have not traveled to other countries so I have not experienced the nonverbal messages from their either. Some things I have learned from working at a bookstore in the past and reading a small book called Notes for Licensed Vocational Nurses is that each culture reacts differently to our nonverbal messages. One of the topics emphasized was making eye contact. They discussed eye contact as disrespectful in the middle east culture. They said that women were taught to not look men in the eyes because this was a sign of challenging authority. It was also very similar for Asian cultures to not make eye contact and to remain very quiet throughout your interaction with them. This was to show respect. I think the two are different because one culture uses no eye contact to show respect and the other uses it to dominate. I personally use eye contact with my nonverbal behavior because I think you can speak volumes with your eyes.
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I agree with what your saying about eye contact and I have noticed asian's that grew up more in the asian culture dont use it as much. I have a co worker who has lived here for two years and when we talk he very often looks away and looks at other things instead of looking me in the eye, and for me eye contact is very important cause thats how I can tell if someone is interested in the conversation or is even understanding and respecting what I am saying.
ReplyDeleteHi Capone's Mom,
ReplyDeleteI have the same background as you. I also haven’t experienced regional differences nor international differences in nonverbal communication. I am going to have to pick up one of the books called Notes for Licensed Vocational Nurses. I work for a nursing department and our students need to learn about different cultures. I am going to have to check it out. I have also read about eye contact and how it varies within culture and gender. I remember growing up that my mom would always say, “your eyes can say a thousand words”. I took me a while to really understand what she was talking about but she was right. The mom usually is always right.