Cultural differences in body language

Greetings with a handshake

Even the simple handshake can vary from culture to culture. A handshake is widely accepted as the norm, however you’ll need to vary the firmness depending on the location. Western culture typically perceives a strong handshake as authoritative and confidence, where as many parts of the Far East perceive a strong handshake as aggressive, and usually bow instead.

In parts of Northern Europe, a quick firm handshake is the norm. In parts of Southern Europe, Central and South America, a handshake is longer and warmer, with the left hand usually touching the clasped hands or elbow. Beware that in Turkey, a firm handshake is considered rude and aggressive. In certain African countries, a limp handshake is the standard. Men in Islamic countries never shake the hands of women outside the family.

Facial expressions

In general, there are seven different facial expressions which correspond to distinct universal facial emotions:

• Happiness - Raising and lowering of mouth corners, cheeks raised, and muscles around the eyes are tightened.
• Sadness - lowering of mouth corners and raising inner portion of brows.
• Surprise - Arching of eyebrows, eyelids pulled up and sclera exposed, mouth open.
• Fear - Brows arched and pulled together, eyes wide open, mouth slightly open.
• Disgust - Eyebrows lowered, upper lip raised, nose wrinkled, cheeks raised.
• Anger - Brows lowered, eyes bulging, lips pressed firmly.

Hand gestures

We use gestures as a way to emphasis points and illustrate what we are saying.

Hand gestures can mean very different things in different cultures; the ‘OK’ sign in Greece, Spain or Brazil means you are calling someone an a**hole. In Turkey, it’s meant to be an insult towards gay people.

A thumbs up in America and European cultures is an indicator of a job well done, however in Greece or the Middle East, it can mean ‘up yours’

Eye contact

In most western countries, eye contact is a sign of confidence and attentiveness. We tend to assume that if someone looks away while we are talking to them, they’re disinterested and looking for someone else to talk to.

In many Middle Eastern countries, same-gender eye contact tends to be more sustained and intense than the western standard. In some of these countries, eye contact beyond a brief glance between the sexes is deemed inappropriate.

In many Asian, African, and Latin American countries, however, this unbroken eye contact would be considered aggressive and confrontational. These cultures tend to be quite conscious of hierarchy, and avoiding eye contact is a sign of respect for bosses and elders.

In these parts of the world, children won’t look at an adult who is speaking to them, and nor will employees to their bosses.

Moving your head

In some parts of India, people tilt their head from side to side to confirm something and demonstrate that they are actively listening. The side to side head movement originates from British occupation, as the occupied Indian people were afraid to ever gesture ‘no’ to soldiers but wanted to show signs of understanding.