How nonverbal communication can thwart cross-cultural communication effectiveness?

Nonverbal cues play a powerful role in supporting or hindering dialogue. PERCEIVE stands for proximity, expressions, relative orientation, contact, eyes, individual gestures, voice, and existence of adapters. Proximity finds that individuals sit, stand, and want to be near those they like. Relative orientation reflects the degree to which individuals face one another. 

 

Expressions indicate happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust across cultures. Contact demonstrates closeness, familiarity, and degree of liking. Eyes demonstrate liking and interest, willingness to listen, and acknowledgement of the other person's worth. Individual gestures indicate what refers to the person and what refers to others. Voice can demonstrate demographics and emotions. Existence of adapters demonstrates when people are stressed or bored with a situation.



Several aspects vary across cultures, such as use of color, time, and body language. Chromatics is communication through the use of color. Colors of clothing, products, packaging, or gifts send intended or unintended messages when people communicate cross-culturally. 

 

Chronemics reflects the use of time in a culture. Some cultures are monochronic, meaning that things are done linearly, or one activity at a time. Others are polychronic, meaning that people tend to do several things at the same time. Also posture, gestures, eye contact, facial expression, touching, voice pitch and volume and speaking rates differ across cultures