1. Where do we stand?
Baiku Blues 2:52 PM English Notes No
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In this short article, Davis focuses on cross-cultural
differences in the use of personal space and on the
conflicts and misunderstandings that often arise from
these differences. She maintains that, with enough
training or coaching, people can learn the nonverbal
habits of other cultures and minimize intercultural
problems.
According to Lisa Davis, the types of nonverbal
communication are: Personal space, eye contact,
touching, greeting (shaking hand), kissing, bowing,
smiling, body orientation and posture and smell. They can
be grouped under proxemics (the study of variations in
posture, inter-personal distance and tactile contact in
human communication), haptics (relating to or involving
the sense of touch) and olfactics (connected with the
sense of smell).
2. The major cause of non-verbal conflicts is the tendency
for people to interpret the nonverbal patterns of another
culture in terms of the patterns within their own culture.
This ethnocentric viewing of reality often results in
misinterpretations, negative value judgments and feeling
of discomfort. In this article, the writer maintains that
cultural differences exist in the use of personal space, and
this often leads to intercultural conflicts and
misunderstanding, especially, in an increasingly global
world. With enough training and practice, however,
people can learn the nonverbal patterns of other cultures
and minimize problems.
