Nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful ways that

Nonverbal
Miscommunication. Nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful ways that
we communicate in our interpersonal relationships. Sometimes, however, we may
find ourselves unintentionally communicating the wrong message. This happens
often in intercultural communication situations (when we are communicating
across different cultures). Provide an example of a time when you nonverbally
communicated something other than what you meant. Or, use an example of when
someone else communicated something to you nonverbally that was not what they
meant. What happened in this situation? Be specific in your example and also
discuss what you will do in the future to avoid this type of miscommunication

 

Actions
sometimes speak louder than words. According to J Gen Intern Med, “we define
nonverbal behavior to include a variety of communicative behaviors that do not
carry linguistic content and these may include but are not limited to, facial
expressivity, smiling, eye contact, head nodding, hand gestures, postural
positions (open or closed body posture and forward to backward body lean);
paralinguistic speech characteristics such as speech rate, loudness, pitch,
pauses, and speech dysfluencies; and dialogic behaviors such as interruptions.”
(Intern Med, 2006) An individual’s nonverbal actions may cause the perceiver to
become confused or irritated. If an individual was crying and then another
individuals asked that individual if he/she is fine and that individual tell
the asker yes then this itself can cause mixed communication and it clearly
shows that there is something wrong but the individual does not want to talk
about it. People can talk all day long
about doing something and not get too much of a response from the receiver but
when the individual turns around and starts giving mean looks, and shaking
his/her head then chances are the receiver is going to respond in order to keep
tension from remaining between the two.

 
According to David Matsumoto, “despite the existence of a universal
facial expression based on emotions; people around the world do express
emotions differently” (Matsumoto, 2006). Each culture may express their
emotions differently than other cultures because some culture believes differently
when communicating. Some cultures feels that they are threatening someone if
they look that individual in they ye. Therefore, if an individual from my
culture were to talk to an individual from that type of culture we would get
offended simply because we learned that when you talk to someone you give them
eye contact. Since there is culture differences, nonverbal communication can be
misinterpreted.

 

Reference

 

J Gen Intern Med. (2006) Mechanisms and Outcomes:
The Expression of Emotion Through

 

Nonverbal Behavior in Medical Visits. Retrieved from

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484830/

 

 

Matsumoto, David (2006) Culture and Nonverbal
Behavior. Retrieved from

 

http://www.davidmatsumoto.com/content/Matsumoto%20Chapter%2012%20Pages%20from%20Manusov%20II%20Proff-14.pdf