Nonverbal Nuances
In many Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, maintaining prolonged, direct eye contact with someone of higher status or opposite gender can be viewed as this.
What is disrespectful?
Overgeneralizing all people belonging to a specific culture as having the exact same characteristics or behaviors.
What is stereotyping?
The use of slang, neologisms, and this type of highly specialized workplace or industry language can be a major hurdle in cross-cultural communication.
jargon
This skill involves understanding, respecting, and adapting to people from different cultural backgrounds.
high cultural intelligence
This term describes the physical distance (ranging from an arm’s length up to six feet) people keep between themselves during an interaction, which varies highly by culture.
What is personal space?
The tendency to view one's own culture as the center of the universe and judge other cultures by the standards of one's own group.
What is ethnocentrism?
This cultural communication style relies heavily on explicit, direct words to convey meaning, where "no" means exactly "no" (often found in the US and Germany).
low-context
Instead of making assumptions, a person with high cultural intelligence does this to better understand someone from a different culture.
What is asking respectful questions and listening with an open mind?
While verbal greetings might vary, this physical gesture of respect is the standard protocol for setting up meetings and showing gratitude in Japan.
What is bow?
This is the psychological discomfort or anxiety an individual feels when they are suddenly immersed in an unfamiliar cultural environment.
This cultural communication style relies heavily on the surrounding situation, nonverbal cues, silence, and relationship history, rather than just the literal words spoken (often found in Japan and China).
high-context
Understanding and evaluating other cultures and their practices without strictly judging them by your own cultural standards.
cultural relativism
This is the study of body language, including gestures, facial expressions, and posture, which often leads to miscommunications if misinterpreted across cultures.
What is kinesics?
This specific communication barrier is the belief or assumption that all cultures are identical, which can lead to inappropriate behavior or missed boundaries.
Assuming similarities instead of difference
The theory proposing that the language a person speaks shapes the way they think and view the world around them.
linguistic relativity
Combining global cultural elements with local ones, such as a global brand altering its marketing to fit a specific local culture's customs.
glocalization
In some cultures, like Bulgaria or certain parts of Greece, this specific head gesture actually means "yes," directly contradicting the "no" motion in Western cultures
What is a head nod/shake?
A refusal to see or acknowledge the cultural differences that exist between people, often resulting in ineffective cross-cultural interactions.
Cultural blindness
The length of time one is expected to remain silent before taking a turn to speak is a specific cultural rule belonging to this branch of discourse analysis.
turn-taking
The term used to describe the psychological distress or confusion a person experiences when returning to their home country after having lived abroad for a long time.
reverse culture shock