CATEGORIES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

Kinesics
“The horn fingers”
 In USA the horn fingers is adopted by rockers and it is a sign of approval, rock on!
 But in many Mediterranean and Latin countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,
Cuba, Spain, Italy and Portugal, to make this sign at someone is to tell them that their
spouse is cheating on them.
“Looking at your watch”
 In some countries in Asia, this means ‘I’m in a hurry’ or ‘I’ve got to be somewhere’.
 In the Middle East, however, a conversation should run its natural course, as it would be
very rude to look at your watch mid-conversation. In Arabic culture, once communication
has started, it must “take its time”
Oculesics
 When a lecturer sees most of his students are not looking at him, he might conclude that
they are not paying attention.
 In Eastern cultures women should especially not have eye contact with men as it shows
power or sexual interest.
 In Japan, prolonged eye contact considered rude, disrespectful and threatening.
 Native Americans tend to avoid eye contact with superiors as a sign of respect for their
authority.
Proxemics
 The South American country is filled with "close-talkers" -- people who stand 2.5 feet
(0.76 meters) away from strangers when chatting.
 In Romania, There, residents like to stand a spacious 4.5 feet (1.4 meters) away from
strangers.
 If you are in an event listening to a professor giving a lecture, you are probably about 12-
25 feet away.
Haptics
 In Thailand, Sri Lanka, and some other cultures, the head is considered sacred and should
not be touched by others.
 Americans sometimes make the mistake of patting children of other cultures on the top of
the head as a sign of affection or endearment.
 In some cultures, this is seen as a serious breach of etiquette.
 In Italy, Italian men are known for is squeezing females’ back to indicate to the lady that
she is attractive. But, In US When a young lady’s back part was squeezed, she was not
happy about the situation and they consider it as a sexual harassment.