Critically analyse how culture and nonverbal communication are Essay

Critically analyse how culture and nonverbal communication are connected - Essay Example Universally, there is a set of psychological problems that various groups of individuals must solve to survive which highly connect with the biological imperatives. In essence, both groups and individuals must design ways of addressing the universal problems. The means developed by people and groups essentially become their culture. Therefore, culture can be referred to in this context as a shared system of socially transmitted behaviour that defines, describes and guides our ways of life, communicated from one generation to another. Every culture can be said to have its unique language, with its grammar, vocabulary, pragmatics and phonology. The specific way in which every culture develops its non-verbal language differs from that of another. The connection between culture and non-verbal communication is a reality that the essay endeavours to analyse critically. Just like the case with verbal communication, culture significantly influences the various forms of non-verbal communication in profound ways. The application of gestures, facial expressions, the interpersonal space, gaze, touch and body postures impacted on by cultural behaviours that differ significantly. There is a great connection between culture and gestures. The examination of the interrelationship between culture and gestures dates back to the 1936 and 1941 studies by David Efron (Berko, Rosenfeld and Samovar, 2013). In these studies, David examined the use of gestures among the Lithuanian and Sicilian Jewish immigrants who lived in the New York City. In his findings, Efron established that there were different gestures between the traditional Italians and Jews which gradually kept disappearing as people got assimilated into the American culture. Other studies by Ekman et al. in 1976 produced a documentation of the cultural differences in the use of emblematic gestures betwee n the Americans, Japanese, and the New Guineans. It is worth noting,