Nonverbal Miscommunication by Huda Alawi

Huda Alawi

Essay # 1

09/23/2013

Prof: Vickie Mellos

Nonverbal Miscommunication

            Nonverbal signals transfer information between a person to another. Some information needs to understand especially when the conversation is happened between people from different cultures. Misunderstandings nonverbal signals could happen between people from different countries and different cultures. Many people refuse nonverbal signals that come from other cultures without knowing it. Some people communicate through their nonverbal signals which can confuse other people. Sometimes nonverbal signals send a wrong message that cause problems with people who receive the message.

         Eye contact is an example of nonverbal signals which cause miscommunication. Eye contact is culturally dependent. In Kuwait, young people are not allowed to look directly in the older people’s eyes for a long time. This behavior is impolite.  In the United States culture, it is important to look each other in the eyes during conversation. If one person doesn't, it gives the desired effect for other person such as thinking that he lying which reduces confidence in him. This small difference can lead to misunderstanding between people from these cultures. The Americans will think that the Kuwaitis are hiding something, and the Kuwaitis probably think that the Americans are being rude. There are many other examples of nonverbal signals that cause misunderstandings to each others.

          Greeting each other is also culturally dependent. In Kuwait when a person greets another person, it is important to catch his right hand and shake it. Handshaking and kissing each other cheeks is also tradition. It shows respect and acceptance for another person. In Japan handshaking is not allowed. Japanese just bow when they greet someone. Handshaking is undesirable in Japanese culture. Handshaking disgusts Japanese people and reduces respect. However in Kuwait if the person greets without handshaking, it may cause resentment, and it shows displeasure of others. Misunderstanding can also be a result from different cultures in people's clothing color.

           Sometimes clothing color reflects feeling of the person. For example: white color shows gladness, red means love, and black means sadness. In Kuwaiti culture, when someone dies, people who come for condolences and the dead person’s family must wear black clothes. That color in Kuwaiti culture means grief and sadness. In India people have to wear white colored clothes for the same event. However, in Kuwait white colored clothes means gladness in most cases. Therefore people must be careful in this small difference because it may lead to a misunderstanding for Kuwaitis, and it will raise the anger of Indian people.

          In conclusion, nonverbal signals depend on the society’s culture. Before starting communication by these signals in another country, you should learn their meaning. Eye contact, handshaking, and clothing color can give rise to a lot of miscommunication.