Watch out for your Body Language- Gestures Speak Louder Than Words!: Embedding Organizational Culture in Transit

No simple and easy-to-use reference guide is accessible for cultural behavior that can be claimed to be a playbook of dos and don't and lists of cultural problems that do not work. Albeit, it was possible to assemble a very comprehensive list of facts for every culture that helps to memorize such information, and keeping it straight is unrealistic– and most people do not use lists. You cannot find them once you need them, and you cannot carry them around with you. Perhaps most vital, interactions between people happen within a given context, and counting on lists distracts an individual from the immediacy of every unique experience.

Using the various dimensions of culture, including time, hierarchy, individualism, and collectivism, allows us to understand these probabilities about cultures that are worth listening to – and therefore, the word probability is vital. An equivalent is valid once we observe non-verbal behavior and plan to decipher its meaning. We should leave the ambiguous nature of communication between people. Watching ourselves and becoming more conscious of our assumptions about other people's behaviors helps us be less reactive. We start to ascertain the individual in each encounter instead of just our interpretation of things.

Non- Verbal Behavior

The most important thing to keep in mind about non-verbal behaviors is that they are not translated across cultures easily and may cause profound misunderstanding. Values, beliefs, and attitudes drive human actions, and it is helpful to think about how these invisible aspects of culture-drive impact the behaviors we will encounter.?

Eye Contact

The Americans typically look directly into each other's eyes and exchanged glances spontaneously when talking, conveying both in formal or casual settings. The shifting eyes and avoiding meeting may take as disinterest or even deception by Americans (Li & Karakowsky,2001). However, a scarcity of consistent and compelling eye contact could also symbolize respect or humility in other cultures (Li & Karakowsky,2001). In some Asian cultures, eyes could also be downcast or sweeping, and this often disturbs Americans. "He would not look me within the eye!" Direct eye contact is employed far less in Hispanic culture, and direct disagreement with a provider is rare.

Head Nodding

Nodding of the top could also be a symbol of acknowledgment instead of agreement in some cultures. The nod could even be saying, "Yes, I am taking note of you intently" instead of "yes, I understand what you are saying and that I agree." the standard response to a choice with which one may disagree in silence and noncompliance. At times, nodding and silence may mean "I am listening…However, I am not in agreement."?

Taking Turns in Conversation & Use of Silence

The structure and ways of the conversation get passed between people varies significantly between cultures, and it is the length of sustained eye contact cues conversational turn-taking (Akechi et al., 2013). Americans tend to form medium-length eye contact before looking away, and that they use an extended direct gaze for cueing changing speakers. In other cultures, where a direct watch could also be offensive, lack of eye contact may make it awkward for Americans to pass conversation back and forth (Akechi et al., 2013). Being generally uncomfortable with silence in the formal discussion, Americans rush through pauses and quickly complete the dangling sentences. However, people from less direct cultures may struggle to participate equally in conversation with Americans, a definite hindrance in fruitful exchanges. The answer is to practice allowing silence, which necessitates slowing down communication and more careful listening also. As a task-oriented culture, Americans tend to urge conversation to the purpose, whereas other cultures will use it to create a relationship. The utilization of silence suggests that hearing, considering, and valuing what is being said by the opposite party is critical in cross-cultural interactions to manage trustworthiness (Akechi et al., 2013).

Expressiveness & Gesturing

The Americans conduce to be moderately expressive when it involves visual communication, gesturing freely compared to most Asians, but seeming constrained to some Latin or Arab cultures. An American might misread an excessive use of hands or arms in conversation as a sign of excitability or distress during a person when, in fact, it means nothing of the type. While keeping this in mind, providers should stay conscious of how their gesturing might be interpreted (Expressive gesture synthesis & recognition). Rushing and broad gestures might create discomfort for an Asian patient/parent but go relatively unnoticed by someone from the Center-East. Similarly, a western provider may over mine or undermine a patient's level of pain supported by the presence or absence of a loud complaint, gesticulations, and other expressions of pain that are closely tied to a person's culture.

Use of Humor, Smiling, and Laughter

An efficient interpreter will avoid translating humor for the excellent reason that jokes and sarcasm do not translate well across cultures. Unlike Americans, in some cultures, humor can even be seen as aggression or dominance. Still, Americans tend to put down fun because of their individualistic nature, and it's acceptable to ridicule themselves. It will be confusing for people from other cultures where close attention is paid to preserving the dignity of all people during a given interaction – in Asian cultures, this is often called saving face value.?

A well-intentioned provider with a specific vested position and status will confuse some families by poking fun at himself. And can easily disrupt the sense of trust vested in them, especially in the traditional cultures.

There is an enormous difference in American culture between a wry smile and a happy smile, even as in many Asian cultures a 'masking smile,' with corners of the mouth turned down, maybe a polite way of letting you recognize what you are doing is not appropriate. Similarly, in many Asian cultures, laughter is often a symbol of embarrassment instead of a response to humor because it typically is within the US. Where there are significant populations from Asian cultures, got to remember the difference between high and low context cultures. Reading facial expressions, visual communication, etc., is a habit to people from Asian cultures but goes unnoticed by many Americans unless they create a concerted effort to pay closer attention in cross-cultural situations.

Facial Gestures in Negotiations

According to the study conducted by Harvard University, "Body Language in Negotiation: How Facial Expressions Impact a Negotiation, building trust and rapport in negotiation using body language"(Staff, 2020). The results showed that participants viewed the "happy" opponent as more honest, reliable, and trustworthy than the "angry" opponent, regardless of his message. As a result of this trust, the participants relied more on the happy opponent's word than they did on the angry opponent's note when deciding how much to gamble in the game that followed. Interestingly, even though they did not trust the bitter opponent, participants made relatively high offers to him whether or not he was cooperative, perhaps because they found him intimidating (Staff, 2020). Not surprisingly, we are more likely to trust the statements of someone who seems happy than those of someone who appears angry.?

Conclusion

It cannot be overstated that any non-verbal communication guidelines should be applied as informed generalizations, and in most instances, following the opposite party's lead is the best approach. Developing a cross-cultural mindset requires being more observant and demonstrating a willingness to regulate your behavior. With experience, you will build your realistic style that shows higher sensitivity and awareness and ultimately contributes to raised communication and health outcomes for all patients.

Reference

Akechi, H., Senju, A., Uibo, H., Kikuchi, Y., Hasegawa, T., & Hietanen, J. (2013, March). Attention to eye contact in the West and East: Autonomic responses and evaluative ratings. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3596353/ doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059312

Expressive gesture synthesis & recognition. (n.d.). Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www-expression.irisa.fr/research/gesture-synthesis-recognition/

?Kathirvel, N., & Febiula, I. M. C. (2017). CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT AND ITS GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS AMONG INDIAN HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS. International Journal of Information, Business, and Management, 9(2), 307-325. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1903811466?accountid=100141

Li, J., & Karakowsky, L. (2001). Do we see eye-to-eye? Implications of cultural differences for cross-cultural management research and practice. The Journal of Psychology, 135(5), 501-17. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223980109603715

Pratt, A. K. (2004). Cross-cultural management, volume 1: The theory of culture / cross-cultural management, volume 2: Managing cultural differences. Personnel Psychology, 57(3), 795-798. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/220135878?accountid=100141

Staff, P. (2020, April 20). Body Language in Negotiation: How Facial Expressions Impact a Negotiation. Retrieved July 21, 2020, from https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/how-facial-expressions-affect-trust/