Non-verbal and cultural communication

a. Culture and facial expressions

Non-verbal and cultural

b. Culture, variety of languages, and

silence
communication

c.  Culture and colour

d.  Culture and time

e.  Culture and touch

a. Culture and Facial Expressions
Facial expressions are part of nonverbal communication, because in expression we
don't need language. Even nonverbal communication from facial facial expressions will
make communication run more effectively. Another thing, what is associated with culture
is the expression that can be generated.
b. Culture, variety of languages, and the atmosphere of silence
Nonverbal behavior patterns can provide information about the value system of a
culture. Forexample: regarding the concept of cultural time with an orientation to
"doing", such as theUnited States will tend to perceive situations without words as a
waste of time. For cultureswith an orientation to "being" (being), the silence in
conversation has a positive value,because it is important for self-understanding and
awareness of circumstances. Knowledge ofnonverbal behavior can help to suppress
feelings of ethnocentrism. For
c. Culture and color Culture determines
Nonverbal behaviors that represent or symbolize thoughts, feelings, and certain
conditions of the communicator.
d. Culture and time Culture determines when the time is appropriate or
appropriate to communicate thoughts, feelings, internal circumstances. So
although the behaviors that show these emotions are universal, there are cultural
differences in determining when, by whom and where emotions can be shown. Culture
and touch It is assumed that every sense of stimulation through the skin communicates
meaning. The meaning received from a touch is very dependent not only on the nature of
touch, but also on the situation and relationships between individuals. Our culture is
labeled as non-contact culture, which indicates that we tend to be very limiting about who
touches whom. Some touch is valued primarily in relation to sexual arousalpotential.
Example: Forms of non-verbal communication in the form of touch in Sundanese culture,
among others:
 Whenever you meet older people, especially family, usually younger people kiss the
hands of older people as an expression of respect.
 When meeting with relatives or friends of the same age, if the same sex, usually shake
hands and hug or kiss right cheek left. If you are of the opposite sex, just shakehands.
 In a husband and wife relationship, the wife usually kisses her husband's hand as asign of
respect.

e. Culture and touch

Touch is a fundamental requirement for our wellbeing, yet the amount of touch
people receive across different cultures varies significantly.

Touch has been used for healing purposes by different cultures for millennia. In
her book, Touch, Dr Tiffany Field notes that the Ebers Papyrus dated to 1553BC,
“showed the early practice of healing by touch.” In 400BC, hand healers in Greece were
called ‘kheirourgos’, which is the origin of the word ‘surgeon’. Meanwhile in Rome,
Galen was a famous healer who used massage as a form of treatment. Even the Bible
shows the laying on of hands as a way of healing those with a range of conditions and
diseases.

Field writes that many cultures today still understand the importance of touch and
some cultures live skin-to-skin, starting early on by passing their babies from person to
person, regardless of their age. Yet many cultures around the world have lost touch and
wellbeing levels are suffering as a result. Edward Hall developed a theory that cultural
norms are one of the most crucial factors in determining social distance and touch
between people. He believed there were two groups of cultures: “contact cultures” and
“non-contact cultures”.

Higher contact cultures stand closer to each other, make more eye contact, speak
louder and incorporate touch more frequently. Examples of high contact cultures include
those from the Middle East, Latin America and Southern Europe. Conversely, low
contact cultures may stand further away when talking, maintain less eye contact and
usually steer clear of touch. It’s been suggested that low contact cultures tend to rely on
verbal communication and have greater visual needs. An example would be the Far East.
Hall stated that North America and Northern Europe were also non-contact cultures,
however, others have sought to classify them as moderate contact cultures.

In the US or the UK, a handshake may be considered appropriate for meeting

someone new. Whereas in France, a kiss on both cheeks is common. If a child is touched
on the head in North America, that would be seen as fine, however, the head is
considered sacred in Asia and this would be disrespectful. To shake hands or accept a gift
with your left hand in the Middle East is seen to be rude, as this hand is used for bodily
hygiene purposes. An interesting piece of research took place in cafes around the world
and recorded the number of times two people sharing coffee touched each other per hour,
evidencing the wide disparity in regards to how much we engage in touch. In London
they recorded 0 touches per hour, in Florida 2 per hour, Paris 110 per hour and San Juan,
more than 180 per hour.

To try and understand why some cultures are more open to touch than others,
researchers began looking for correlations and discovered that warmer climates can affect
emotional intensity, which may be related to closer interpersonal contacts. Studies have
shown that the higher the annual temperature of a country, the closer the social distance
between people and strangers. Another hypothesis proposes that hotter climates favour a
friendlier environment, thereby encouraging people to stand closer. Interestingly, warmer
climates seem to have more socio-emotionally oriented cultures, whereas cooler climates
have more task-oriented cultures; perhaps because cooler climates require more
collaboration for survival.

However, other factors can’t be discounted, such as the age of the individuals,
their gender (and existing cultural views of gender), their status, the topic of the
conversation, the opinion of one individual about the other and their relationship.
Indeed research by the University of Oxford and Finland’s Aalto University, seems to flip
this theory on its head. Study participants came from Finland, France, Italy, Russia, and
the UK. The results showed that some nationalities were less open to touch. British
participants came bottom of the touchability index, as might be expected. However, there
were some interesting results as Robin Dunbar, one of the researchers explained for an
article in the Atlantic, “We hadn’t expected the Finns to turn out to be the most cuddly
people… or that the Italians are almost as un-cuddly as the Brits.”

The fact that physical contact has such strong cultural meanings shows that it’s a
vital element of non-verbal communication around the world. Becoming more tactile as a
culture can increase the health benefits for society as a whole. As our societies become
more disconnected, as loneliness becomes more prevalent and as mental health issues
such as stress, anxiety and depression increase, maybe we as a social species need to
return to high contact cultures to truly thrive during these challenging times.
 REFERENCES

https://pakarkomunikasi.com/hubungan-komunikasi-nonverbal-dengan-budaya-lot
MA’RUF,ADE ANANG, HASYIM ASY’ARI, ULFAH NURAINI. 2016. KOMUNIKASI
NONVERBAL.
Karunia, Sema, Hajar Ummu Fatikh, Sasmita Dewi Kirana. Komunikasi Non Verbal. 2017.
https://www.nordiccuddle.com/post/touch-in-different-cultures