Week 7: Post #2

2). Although nonverbal messages are more universal than verbal messages, nonverbals do not always carry the same meanings in other cultures. Can you give examples of some of the nonverbal displays that take on different meanings in other countries? If you have moved around within this country, have you ever encountered regional differences in nonverbal meaning?

My boyfriend has been lucky enough to do quite a bit of traveling at such a young age.  With that experience he has been able to meet lots of different people from different places.  He has experienced this very idea while traveling.  Many countries have different context for nonverbal messages.  While traveling he happened to give a simple thumbs-up.  He was showing the people that whatever he was talking about was cool.  However, when he did so, one of the people he was with asked him what he was doing in a kind of insulted way.  When He explained what it meant, the other boy started to laugh.  The other boy explained to my boyfriend giving a thumbs up where he was from (Iran) was the equivalent of flipping someone off.  Regional differences also occur within this country.  In Hawaii, you see people making the "hang loose" symbol with their hands.  In rock and roll you see a lot of people making the "rock on" symbol with their hands.  In all these cases hand symbols which is a form of nonverbal communication, can mean different things to different people.