IV. Cultural Differences in Body Language

Understanding the body language of different nationalities – the way they use gestures, eye-contact, and touching to communicate without words – is an important part of communicating across cultures.

Gesture. If we compare the way different European nations use gestures, they fall into three groups. In the first group there are Nordic nations – the Swedes, Finns, Norwegians, and Danes – who use gestures very little. The second group includes nations such as the British, Germans, Dutch, Belgians, and Russians. They use some gestures, for example, when they are excited, or want to communicate over long distances, or insult each other. The third group includes the Italians, Greeks, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. They use gestures a lot, to emphasize what they are saying, and hold the other person’s attention.

Personal Space. People’s sense of personal space – the distance that separates them from another person – also varies between people of different nationalities. What feels right for one nationality may feel uncomfortable for another. British zoologist, Desmond Morris, has identified three personal space zones in Europe. In countries such as Spain, France, Italy, and Greece, people stand close enough to each other easily. Morris calls this the «elbow zone». In East European countries people stand more distant. Morris calls this the «wrist zone». In Britain, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries, people prefer to stand further away from each other, and they do not generally touch. This he calls the «fingertips zone».

Eye-contact. Another cultural difference between nationalities is the amount of eye-contact between people. In countries where people stand close to each other, in Morris’s «elbow zone», eye-contact is more frequent and lasts longer. Mediterranean cultures are «high-look» cultures whereas north European countries are «low-look» cultures. Children who grow up in a low-look culture learn that it is rude to look too long at another person. In a high-look culture, eye-contact, like physical contact and gestures, is a natural way of expressing your feelings and relating to other people. This explains why, for example, north Europeans visiting south European countries may feel uncomfortable at the way people look at them.

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III. Forms of address	\|	Art for Heart's Sake' R. Goldberg

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