Let ’s say that you ’re travel to a country where you do n’t speak the language . You did n’t have meter to pick up a dictionary or a book of common phrasal idiom , so you ’ll have to get around using only hired hand gestures . At a restaurant , you sample to indicate which dish you ’d like by nodding or giving the server a thumbs - up , but all you get is the antonym of what you wanted and an pained smell . No one will look you in theeye , and one somebody seemed downright insult by your attempts to point out on amapwhere you ’d like to go . What gives ?
We may think that nonverbal communication is universal , but it ’s not . Every culture translate consistency language , gestures , posture and carriage , vocal noises ( like shrieks and grunts ) , and degree of eye touch other than . In the example above , the poor traveler might have expected that nodding his or her head up and down would indicate yes , but in some land , it have in mind just the opposite . In the Middle East , nodding the head down indicate agreement , while nodding it up is a sign of disagreement ; in Japan , a up - and - down nod might just be a sign that someone is listening [ source : Wang , Li ] . The thumb - up sign is vulgar in Iran . The " OK " signaling made by forming a circle with the pollex and index finger refer to money in some nation , while in others it ’s an highly offensive character to a private dead body part . item with the wrong digit , or with anything less than your integral hand , and you lay on the line offending somebody , and while some culture value oculus contact as a star sign of respect , averting your eye may be the sign of obedience in others .
The list goes on and on : Some state consider a handshake rude , and it ’s always rude to pass an target to another mortal with your left hand in the Middle East – after all , that hand is allow for matters of personal hygiene . While burping after a meal is considered the pinnacle of uncouthness here in the U.S. , a hearty belch is a sign of the zodiac of appreciation for the cook in India . In some places , multitude value a certain point of personal blank in conversation , while those from the Middle East might get right up in your face when they want to converse . In Latin America , it ’s expected that you ’ll get very touchy - feely with both strangers and friends – perhaps commute a hearty embrace – whereas in the U.S. , such contact might be considered sexual . And confine the desire to dab a minor on the head in Asia ; there ’s a belief that such a touch would damage the child ’s soul .
Facial expressions might be the only form of gestural communicating that could be look at universal . It was Charles Darwin who first propose that all cultures extract emotion the same room with their expression , a hypothesis that was indorse by laboratory studies in the 1960s . investigator make up one’s mind that there are six universal facial expressions : ire , disgust , fear , happiness , lugubriousness and surprise [ beginning : Matsumoto ] . In more late years , other researcher have argued that looks of contempt and embarrassment may also constitute universal expressions . No matter where you are , it seems , you must remember that your body is always allege something , even when you ’re not speaking .
