Communications and Media

Non verbal communication refers to communication that uses other means other than those that do not engage the use of words. There are different forms of non verbal means of communication and every culture utilizes its own different means that may be different from other cultures or which may be interpreted differently by other cultures. This form of communication is a behavior which is learned but not necessarily taught. The influence of culture on non verbal communication is profound and therefore is the interpretation of these non verbal forms of communication (Kimlee, 2005).

There are many forms of non verbal communication which were categorized into five categories according to scholars. Accordingly, behaviors that can be interpreted to have significance in themselves are called emblems e.g. raising the thumb up. The second category is called regulators which are behaviors that control conversations, like signaling when one finishes delivering a speech. The third is the behavior that conveys emotions and is termed as emotions. The last category is of behaviors that involve body manipulations and is termed as adaptors. All these differ significantly from one culture to another (Matsumoto, n.d)

An example of how different cultures interpret these non verbal forms differently is the use of gestures. For example in Japan, putting a palm down and then scratching signals inviting somebody to where you are while in the American society, one puts his palm up and waves. This act of waving the palm up may mean something very different to another society. Another example of how different these cues of communication are interpreted is hugging. For instance, hugging between people who are not lovers in Korea is widely regarded as taboo, while in Japan or china, the same is interpreted as an act of benevolence.

Gazing is another cue of non verbal communication interpreted differently by cultures. According to matsumonto, the regulations that govern gazing are largely influenced by the culture one hails from. A research that was done by Hall in 1963 highlighted these differences in the rules that govern gazing and observed that in Arabic societies, people gaze into their partners  more openly and for a longer time than do their American counterparts (Matsumonto n.d). The study also classified cultures into two groups contact cultures, being those cultures that involve more contact or physical touch while interacting, and non contact cultures that involve a lot of gazing, and no interpersonal space while interacting. These differences in visual behavior and gazing are also evident within the American society.

The extent to which the nonverbal communication is expressed also varies between communities. For instance, the Chinese use thousands of gestures that are less expressive due to their reserved nature. These are often termed as dead gestures because they are gestures that have been in use for a very long time (Matmasou, n.d). It is apparent that there are a lot of differences in nonverbal communication between cultures and the challenge is for mankind to remain open to these aspects of other cultures that are different from ones own culture. It is however imperative that non verbal models of communication is one of the important methods of cultural exchange and expression amongst people that originate from a diverse outlay of cultural orientation.