As a part of the management in my former company, I had soon realized that it was important for me to develop certain key skills. One of the skill, which I gave much focus, was interpreting body languages.
Let me share and compare few of the things of Indian culture vis a vis North American culture.
In southern part of India, a woman executive will never extend her hand when you greet her. She will just fold her hand and will never allow any sort of body contact with her male counterpart. But in western part of India, a woman executive will warmly extend her hand. In North America too, a woman will not hesitate in shaking hands and it’s important that one should firmly shake hand.
In Indian culture, the boss is always addressed as “Sir”, and superiors and seniors are always addressed with “Mr”. Eye contact with the boss is considered very rude. Avoiding eye contact with the seniors is considered as a sign of respect. But in North American culture, eye contact is very very important. Avoidance of eye contact is viewed with suspicion. North American bosses are so informal that they love to be called with their first name. I had hard time calling my boss with his first name. It took me two months to adapt to this behaviour. Again I found it very funny when I learnt that calling somebody by “Mr. First Name” is considered very rude in North America.
I am curious to know how these things go in other cultures. Pakistanis, Afghanistanis and others including my dear friend PARISNOOR may please share their knowledge and experience in this thread.
Re: Interpreting Body Language and gestures in different cultures
in cultures where humble behavior is encouraged vs those where self-confidence and aggressiveness is admired you will see such differences in body language....and example being social interaction in pakistan vs social interaction between people in the US. also religious beliefs play a role. such as women in pakistan/afghanistan/ saudi arabia not making body contact when interacting with men.
student-teacher relationships are also different. in pakistan teachers are adressed as "sir" or "madam" never by their first names. also student-teacher interaction is relatively formal as compared to the way i saw students interact (during class) with teachers.
also if u thought the "thumbs up" sign is pretty universal....u will be surprised to know that it is considered a disrespectful gesture among people from baltistan.
grief in many societies is expressed by beating the chest, shrieking out loud whereas in others through silent recluse.
a woman making eye contact with a man while walking down a street in the US is definitely not the same as making eye contact with a man in saudi arabia.
Re: Interpreting Body Language and gestures in different cultures
Good addition. By the way, will you please explain me, which part of Pakistan is called "baltistan"?
In rural part of North India, a lower caste Hindu, if sitting on a bed sees an upper caste Hindu, passing by then he is supposed to stand up to give him respect. Otherwise, he risks being punished/assaulted by upper caste Hindus.
In India, too, teachers are addressed as "Sir" or "Madam" based on their gender.
Re: Interpreting Body Language and gestures in different cultures
It really put me off the first time I tried to brief an Indian tech contractor about the work I wanted him to do. I never knew that the way South Indians show they are understanding you is by shaking their head from side to side.... the Western way of showing disapproval.
For the longest time I thought they were criticizing my project plans!
Re: Interpreting Body Language and gestures in different cultures
^ lol
I experienced that during my 2 year stay in Dammam - Saudi Arabia.
There was this restaurant run by south indians, good food though
Anyway, the first time I went there, I was asking for various things and the guy was just shaking his head from side to side - I was pretty much pissed offf
Oye Agar kuch bhi nahi hay tu hotel kyoon khoola hua hay
Re: Interpreting Body Language and gestures in different cultures
Well... i've logged in after quite a few days, saw this post and couldn't resist adding my own 2 cents worth to the discussion.
Having worked in Saudi Arabia for a few years, I learnt the hard way that if you're sitting down with a couple of Arabs, you simply don't show them the underside of your foot. That applies to whether you have your legs stretched out or if you have one leg crossed over the other.
Evidently it means that you consider them to be under the heel of your shoe.
That said... the V for Victory sign means victory if you do it with your palm towards the other person. On the other hand... if you make the sign with your palm towards yourself, it means "Up yours"
Similarly... steepling your fingers when you sit down at a table, in some societies has been known to indicate a smugness about the situation... that you're in control....
Re: Interpreting Body Language and gestures in different cultures
Japanese always receive your biz card with both hands and do a thing about reading it as if you just handed them the holy book as soon as you give it to them. And you'll be well advised to act the same way (even though many of their cards will be in Japanese and you have no idea).
Contrast that to the US where you can use the backside of a vistors card to make notes while he talks and he thinks you value what he's saying.
The other thing I remember is about secretaries in Japan - They had one assigned to take care of me when I went there. She was so horrified to learn that I showed up before she did the first day and had made coffee before she arrived. She was apologizing to the point of annoyance - I had to explain several times that a) my jet lag prevented me from sleeping and so I was up earley 2) my hotel was the building next to the office whereas she had a 35 minute commute and 3) I can hit the button in the coffee machine as good as she can!
Re: Interpreting Body Language and gestures in different cultures
Well, I heard Russel Peters say, putting 4fingers together, and joining it with the thumb to make a point, and waving it back & forth means **WTF?! **in Italy.
