NON VERBAL

COMMUNICATION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Oculesics Kinesics Haptics

Chromatics Chronemics Proxemics

Physical Posture Facial

Appearance Expressions
Haptics
-are tactile behavior (touch)
Ex. Kissing in public, handshake etc

 Touches are taken as rudeness in most cultures. Shaking hands in considered

to be acceptable in many. Similarly, acceptability of kissing hugs, and many
other touches are different in different cultures. People in Asia are more
conservative in these types of non-verbal communication.
Do Americans kiss in public via Quora
 Like couples kissing and public displays of affection and the like? Sure they
do, but anything beyond a quick peck tends to make people uncomfortable
and full-on making out has a higher likelihood of attracting stares and looks of
disapproval.
 Cheek kiss is not a typical way to greet others in the USA. We mostly go for
handshakes or hugs (although hugs are typically reserved for friends and/or
friendlier, more intimate company.(Answered May 11,2013)
Kinesics
-The use of physical and body movements
A. Eye contact
 -Western cultures mostly consider eye contact to be a good gesture for it shows
attentiveness, confidence and honesty. Other cultures such as Asian,Middle
Eastern, Hispanic and Native American do not take it as a good expression. It is
taken as a rude and offensive expression
B.Posture
1. Leaning Forward
Leaning or bending forward while sitting down usually means that you’re interested
(or even intrigued) by what the other person is saying. It shows attentiveness.
2. Slouching
Slouching is usually received negatively, and often indicates laziness or other negative
characteristics. It’s also considered bad posture in general, and can be done standing
or sitting.
C. Gesture
1. Thumbs Up
-The “thumbs up” is a common gesture meaning “Good!” and on popular social media
site, it also means “I like it”
2. Middle Finger
,” giving someone the middle finger is a very rude way of indicating anger,
frustration, or strong disapproval.
 D. Facial Expression (from a study)
 Chinese respondents express emotions primarily through eyes while American
respondents reveal through eyebrows and mouths (Jack, Caldara, Schyns,
2012);
 Chinese respondents facial expression of anger-rage is more easily identifiable
than the one expressed by American respondents (Chan, 1985).
Paralinguistic Codes
-codes that deal with vocal phenomena
 1. “Whatever”
 Means you can do whatever you want.

 Also shows informal exclamation showing reluctance to continue talking about

something.
2. “Like”
-used as a meaningless interjection when they’re having a conversation during their
informal speech.

-something commonly heard from young teenagers

Chronemics
-how people use time effectively especially in
communication
 The terms polychronic and monochronic are used to describe how we
understand and use time as well as how time affects our attitudes, behaviours
and communication. In The Silent Language (1959), Edward T. Hall used the
term polychronic to describe the preference for doing several things at once.
Conversely, monochronic refers to an individual’s preference to do their
activities one by one.
 People in monochronic cultures such as the U.S. or Germany prefer
promptness, careful planning and rigid commitment to plans. They also tend
to be task-oriented whereas people from polychronic cultures are people-
oriented. Cultures such as Italy or Brazil are considered to
be polychronic since they prefer to have multiple things happening at once.
Polychronic cultures tend to prioritise relationships over tasks and do not
consider time commitments to be binding.
Proxemics
- the use of distance when people communicate

 according to The Spruce, typical personal space rules in the United States are
as follows:
 Approximately 0 to 20 inches for intimate couples
 Approximately 1-1/2 feet to 3 feet for good friends and family members
 Approximately 3 feet to 10 feet for casual acquaintances and coworkers
 More than 4 feet for strangers
 More than 12 feet for speaking to a large group
Sources:

 Bajracharya, S. (2018, February 15). Non-verbal Communication in Different

Cultures. Retrieved from
https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/non-verbal-communication-
different-cultures.

 Chen, J., & Chen, J. (2016, April 11). Our Awesome Intercultural Community.
Retrieved from http://sites.miis.edu/eappicc/2016/04/11/facial-expression-
differences-between-chinese-and-european-americans/.

 Limited, C. (2020). Cross-Cultural Concept of Time: Chronemics. [online]

Communicaid.com. Available at: https://www.communicaid.com/cross-
cultural-training/blog/chronemics-concept-of-time/ [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].