While listening to a lecture in my nonverbal communication class, the topic of eye contact was brought up and I found it very interesting.
The professor told us how she has friends that are working with international clients. When they go on business trips to meet these clients they didn't seem to figure out why they weren't making deals with them. She stated that eye contact is depicted differently from all different cultures. In some cultures (particularly the ones her friend was visiting) it's a sign of disrespect to look someone directly in the eye, especially someone of power.
In our country it is a sign of disrespect if you are not looking at someone while they are speaking to you! Now that is something that probably and almost assuredly didn't cross the minds of those going on the business trips and it probably cost them a lot of money in business deals that were left on the table.
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I have often heard this situation described when Americans go to China, where the customs and social norms are drastically different. Eye contact there can be construed as disrespect and it is interesting to look and see the major differences between cultures.
ReplyDeleteMany asians think that direct eye contact is disrespectful and will often turn their heads to avoid it. Also they will often smile when they are nervous. Funny thing is, I learned both these lessons from watching Gran Torino.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great point. I remember hearing something about this a while ago, but didn't realize that is was so much of a sign of disrespect in some cultures. It is interesting to see how something as simple as eye contact can be interpreted so differently among different cultures.
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