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Compare And Contrast Communication And American Culture

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“The place to start when learning to communicate across cultures is to become aware of proxemics, how close to stand or sit when communicating. We each have an invisible circle that surrounds us called (personal space) “. (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008) I am a friendly person, so generally, I like to be close to the person I’m talking to. If a stranger stands close to me I will feel comfortable. My special proximity depends on if I know you or not and if I feel comfortable around you. If I’m uncomfortable, I don’t want you near me. Globally, America and many other European countries share similarities in the amount of space one must have, which is typically arm’s length. In Saudi Arabia, the requirements of personal space are lower. They stand closer …show more content…

Eye contact is expected in American culture, it is essential to social communication which shows a person’s interest and engagement with your conversation. In Western cultures eyes are considered to show the central point of a person’s focus. If somebody doesn’t give any eye contact during a conversation, it may be deemed to be insulting. Many people would take this to mean that they weren’t interested and take their roaming eyes as a sign of their distraction. However, prolonged gazing or starring is rude and very disrespectful. Every eye contact can be perceived differently based on the situation. Growing up, if my mom or dad gave me “the look”, I knew they meant business. “The look is usually demonstrated as an intense stare accompanied by a stern and often frowning face.” (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008, p. 36) In Asian cultures, which are more authoritative, it is believed that subordinates shouldn’t make eye-contact with their superiors. “For example, students are discouraged from making eye contact with their professors, as it can be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. Similarly, a daughter will point her eyes downwards when her father is speaking to her, as a sign of politeness and

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Caribbean people have the mentality to be personal and close with whomever they come in contact with. It is important for them to establish a setting or environment where the other person feels comfortable as if they are family. For Americans, we cherish the personal space of others and ourselves. It is American culture to be mindful of how comfortable others feel around us. “Depending on your country of origin you may think nothing of bumping shoulders with someone in a crowded market or leaning in close to hear what a person is saying.

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Journal #1 Dean Barnlund’s essay, Communication in a Global Village, was written in the 1970s. What contemporary problems or issues would Barnlund have to contend with if he were writing this article today? Answer this question with specific examples and use Barnlund 's vocabulary in your discussion (expected length 1 to 2 paragraphs). Things today are VERY different then they were in the 1970’s, from what I gathered in Communication in a Global Village is that Barnlund believes that there is a problem in society which people of other cultures cannot communicate with each other.

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You’re on a subway, headed to work. It’s a normal business day, the rest of the riders sporting their suits and dresses and briefcases, holding onto the handrails or reading their e-books on portable devices. You’re sitting by the window, the sun caressing your back with its early warming rays; and then you notice the man across from you staring. Perhaps he’s looking at the advertisement next to you; maybe he’s dazing off into post-dream reflection; maybe he’s studying a crumb on your cheek from breakfast. You brush your hand over your mouth and nose, quickly, so he doesn’t realize this gesture is due to his gaze.

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Women tend to look at whoever she’s speaking to in their eyes, face to face, without any distractions often giving listener noises such as mhm, uhuh, and yeah; she likes the listener’s full attention. Men on the other hand, tend to bounce from subject to subject, not looking at the person they are speaking to, and curiously looking around. Men often find that women’s listener noises are frustrating and one man even complained that his wife only had one view of looking at something, that when he tried to show her another way, she got mad at

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Land base: • How did different cultures relate to the land? Humans in North America, prior to the arrival of Europeans, have inhabited for 10,000 to 15,000 years. Many native civilizations had come and gone by the time Columbus discovered the America in 1492 (Dinnerstein, 2015, p.1). At that time, about 3 million to 6 million people lived in North America as a part of 500 distinct tribes, bands, and other groups. The American Indians began series of meetings between and among natives and others who came to America as strangers.

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I was paying full attention to the explanations from my classmates, however because of the symbolism that eye contact holds, my classmates were reluctant to believe that I did give them my

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People unconsciously express their attitude and feelings through their eyes. At the same time, people unconsciously pick up on these "eye signals" and interpret them correctly for the most part. This is why the eyes are considered the windows of the soul, and why eye-to-eye contact in social and business situations is important. Through a lifetime of interpersonal interactions, our brains are trained to interpret the movement of the eyes and the facial muscles around them. When you cover the eyes and the surrounding part of the face with thick distorting lenses and the thick rims required to support them, the brain can't read important unconscious signals.

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Most American people conserve eye contact while communicating, and also they are expertise in showing enthusiasm and compassion. When greeting in social situations women pat each other on the right forearm or on the shoulder, rather than shake hands where as men shake hands until they know someone well, at which time they progress to a more traditional hug and back slapping. conversation take place in close physical distance when stepping back may be regarded as unfriendly. generally, people refrain to use first names

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There were also occasions where the dentist did not look at the patient at all since he/ she was either busy finishing up on the clinical notes for the previous patient or busy roaming through the attendance book when the patient enters the room. Both the duration of a single glance and the frequency of looks dedicated to the patient are crucial in maintaining communication through eye contact. The patient will have an impression that the dentist is neglecting what he/she feels during the dental procedure if the dentist only focuses on the inside of the mouth, equipments, dental assistant's work and avoids looking at the patient's face. A good dentist should be able to notice the current mental state of the patient just by looking at the patient’s facial expression, for example if the patient avoids eye contact as he/she feels uncertain, anxious for dentist's prescribed treatment, frequently blinks due to fear or immediately closes his/her eyes due to pain.

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Culture plays a crucial role in small group communication. The culture of a group ultimately defines the group's belief systems, which influences the group's behavior (DeVito, 2020). Each culture has their own unique belief systems, morals, values, and behaviors. An example of this would be comparing small group communication in American culture and Asian culture. American culture has a strong emphasis on individuality and democracy.

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There are many cultures all around the world and they all have different beliefs and customs. For this essay I will be focusing on two of the many cultures around the world. The first of the two cultures that I will be talking about and comparing is American. The other culture I will be focusing on is that of somebody from Mexican or Spanish descent. One of the first thing I noticed in my book, Leaving Glorytown, is that in Mexico there are many more small village type places than in America.

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In American culture, individuals greet each other in a variety of ways. Friends often greet each other with a simple “What’s up.” While American culture does prioritize respect for the elderly, they don’t expect to be kissed and hugged every time someone greets them. American greeting embrace verbal communication while Arabs analyze body language and have much more expectations. I see this disparity in greeting in my daily life.

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During CultureALL, we had six speakers come in from all over the world to tell us about their cultures and how they celebrate traditions. In the United States, we celebrate Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and many more. In other parts of the United States, they celebrate different traditions. Out of the six speakers, I chose two that are in the United States, however they are not part of the main 48 states; Alaska & Hawaii. I also chose Japan because there are a lot of interesting celebrations that I would like to write about.

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This theory was made by Michael Argyle (1925- 2002), who was a social psychologist. In the late 1960s he studied social skills, body language, non-verbal communication and interpersonal behaviour. In this study, he found that non-verbal signals can be much more important and useful than verbal communication when trying to trigger peoples’ attitudes and feelings. His research showed and found that the stronger the relationship between the people communicating so with close friends for example the much better eye contact. However, when the relationship is not very strong so when speaking to a stranger people don’t have very good eye contact and they tend to look away when talking.

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Eye contact also plays a vital role in effective communication. There are times when we experience words that come out of our mouth and the ways we communicate through our body language are totally different. In this kind of situation, the receiver has to determine whether to believe verbal or nonverbal message. Regularly the receiver would select the nonverbal as it is more natural and it truly displays the speaker’s true feeling and intention. The gestures such as the way we sit, how fast and how loud we talk and how much eye contact we make send strong messages to the receiver.

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