One of the big questions I get asked is do we all act in similar ways? Is body language something we can see across cultures? Between men and women? Does education or social standing come into this at all? And the answer is: that its a bit complex, but in most cases, yes we all act in similar ways. It is not impacted greatly by people’s upbringing or background. The reason for this is that the majority of body language is done subconsciously and comes from primitive movements.
Primitive Movements
Charles Darwin explained primitive movements. He noticed that an expression of emotion is usually achieved by delivering a sample of an instinctive behavioural pattern. A good example of this is the expression disgust. When a person shows disgust, the face they make comes from the face we pull when rejecting something that is foul tasting. It is an automatic reaction that our body does to remove the distasteful object from the mouth.
Other body language cues such as smiling and laughing when happy; crying or frowning when sad; and shaking the head from side to side to indicate “no” are all cross-cultural expressions. Interestingly, it is thought that turning the head for “no” comes from a breastfeeding baby. The baby turns its head away from its mother when it has had enough milk.
.Primitive movements can also be seen in animals. For example a dog will snarl as a threat to bite. A similar response can be seen when a person is angry. They will clench their jaw, makes a fist with their hand and thrusts their head forward. In most cases it is unlikely they will actually bite, punch or head butt the other person, but they are indicating that they feel like they could. Body language in this example is a way of threatening anger. If the other person receives this message and responds appropriately, the situation is more likely to be defused without physical aggression.
Differences
While many expressions can be universal, the complexity comes when looking at gestures. Some good examples of body languages that change across cultures are eye contact, personal space and gestures. In Western countries and the Middle East it is considered polite to look a person in the eye. Whereas in some Asian, African and Latin America countries it is impolite to look a person in the eye. In these locations it can be seen as rude, personally challenging and a sign of disrespect to maintain eye contact.
When considering personal space, it is worth noting that the Spanish and Italians tend to stand closer to each other than those of us from Australia. You may notice during a conversation that a person appears uncomfortable and seems to be trying to move away. The person may not be trying to escape the conversation. They may be uncomfortable due to your proximity, not the topic of conversation.
Without going in to too much detail, thumbs up; the ok sign; and some types of waving have very different meanings in different countries. Do some research if you are travelling or interacting with those from other cultures.
Finally, remember that some cultures are more subdued. Their gestures are likely to be more contained and they will tend to demonstrate less emotion in their body language. All of these things can be identified when establishing a person’s baseline, which we cover in a separate blog.
Have a go at our quiz and see if you can pick the emotions being shown by people from different cultures.