Done by:

Sara Khaled
Sara Al Touki
Mohammad Al Zoughbi

It’s a SOCIAL and a PSYCHOLOGICAL topic

Addressed to: All the students

The ok signal
The “ok” signal means:  Egypt: Be patient
fine or “ok” in most
 Italy: what do you

countries
 “Zero” or “worthless” in mean
some parts of Europe
 Greece: That’s just
 “Money” in Japan
 An insult in perfect
Greece,Brazil,Italy,Russia.  Turkey: indicates that
 Turkey and Venezuela:
“homosexual” something is beautiful
or well
The horn
fingers
 USA:adopted by Most countries like
rockers as a sign UK,USA,Canada and Russia:
of approval implies approval and “all
 Italy,Colombia,Por right” or “well done”
tugal and Spain: Thailand,Iran,Iraq:obsene
To make this sign
at someone is to gesture
tell them that It means “one” to Italians
their wife is It means “five” to Japanese
cheating on them. Malaysia: the thumb is used
 It is a good luck to point rather than the
sign in Brazil and finger.
Venezuela
Eye contact in
different cultures
 Japanese, Africans and
Latin Americans seek eye
contact at the beginning
of the conversation(do
not avoid eye contact to
show respect)
 Asians: view intense eye
contact as a form of
disrespect
 North Americans: view
eye contact as a form of
Body Gestures
Greetings Differ Also
 Japanese: Bow to
elderly
 Brazil and Argentina:
They hug
 France, Italy and
Spain: kiss both cheeks
 Americans: shake hands
 Maoris: Rub noses
 Thailand and India:
Hold palms together
 Nodding the head:
 It means “yes” in most societies
 “no” in Greece,yugoslavia,Bulgharia, and Turkey

 Lip pointing:
 Filipinos, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans: it
is a substitute for pointing with the hand or
finger
 Closed eyes: it means “ im listening” in
Japan,Tailand and China
 Tapping the nose:
 It means “confidential in England
 But “watch out” in Italy
 Crossing legs:
 Accepted in North America and Europe
 Disrespectful in Asia and the Middle East

The gesture of putting a hand on a person'

neck is different for Chinese and Americans.
For Chinese, it is to say "someone will be
killed". For Americans, it shows "I'm full” .
 The business man is unaware in middle eastern
countries, it is insulting to cross an ankle over a
knee while talking to another person
Facial Expressions are:
Universal for:
Facial expressions are
different when:
 People from different cultures
observe different parts of the
face when interpreting facial
expressions
 East Asians: tends to focus on
the eyes
 Westerners : focus on the whole
face
 Asians are known as emotionless
 How it differs?
 In British cultures: the usual distance for
conversation is 2 to 3 feet, anyone standing
closer is considered aggressive
 Southern Europe, Turkey, Arabic countries
and Latin America: Stand closer
 5 feet for Japanese
 Arabs: speak loudly(it is an indication
of strength)
 Philippines and Thailands: speak
softly(indicates breeding and education)
 Northerners speak faster than
Southerners
 English speakers use volume to convey
anger, but Indian English speakers use
loudness to command attention.
 Japanese females adopt an extremely
high pitch
 The Dutch also find medium and low
pitch more attractive than high pitch.