Evidence that Non-Verbal Behaviour is Learned (AQA GCSE Psychology)

Cultural differences in non-verbal behaviour

• Cultural differences in non-verbal behaviour are the opposite of innate non-verbal behaviours as they involve how people learn to behave using cultural norms which differ from culture to culture

• Cultural non-verbal behaviour is undoubtedly the result of social learning:

  • a child observes adults (particularly parents and significant others) performing specific non-verbal behaviours and they are likely to imitate those behaviours, particularly if the child identifies with the adult e.g. a daughter identifying with her mother

• Studying cultural differences necessarily involves comparing different cultures which is known as cross-cultural research

• The level of formality in cultures such as Japan and China can be seen in adherence to maintaining more distance between each other, particularly if one person is of higher rank than the other person 

• Climate may also be a factor in how personal space is defined:

  • people from warmer climates (‘contact’ cultures) have less need for personal space than those from colder, ‘non-contact’ cultures as warm weather makes people feel more relaxed (Sorokowska et al. 2017)

• Some Asian cultures find overt displays of emotion and extreme facial expressions embarrassing and upsetting whereas some cultures (e.g. southern European, Latino, Arabic) may show exaggerated forms of expression, particularly when communicating grief or sadness

• Gestures differ culturally and must be used with care:

  • Pointing a finger is seen as offensive in Hindu culture

  • Using the ‘beckoning’ signal (to communicate ‘come here’) is fine in some cultures but in The Philippines this is how people summon animals so using it for people is seen as an insult

Gestures, such as 'beckoning' have different meanings in different cultures

• Hands in pockets is disrespectful in Turkey

• Sitting with crossed legs is a no-no in Ghana;

• Showing the soles of feet is offensive in Thailand (particularly in a Buddhist temple)

• Slouching is considered rude and disrespectful in many cultures, particularly in northern European countries

• Sweeney et al. (1980) used a sample of 47 American and 36 Japanese students on a Counselling course and found that American participants had a higher accuracy rate than Japanese participants when it came to interpreting the emotions of body shapes and silhouettes with the facial expressions missing

What emotion is being communicated in this silhouette?

Evaluation of evidence that non-verbal behaviour is learned

Strengths

• Real-world experience and interaction with different cultures e.g. gained via overseas travel demonstrates the validity of the idea that non-verbal behaviour is learned

• Research such as Sweeney’s above, used a standardised procedure which means that it is replicable and so can be tested for reliability

Weaknesses

• The influence of culture is not necessarily a given: some people may not adopt the full range of non-verbal behaviours present in their culture due to, for example, dislike/rejection of some aspects of their culture, a lack of awareness of some behaviours, a desire to align themselves with another culture 

• Research such as Sweeney’s above, used a small sample of university students which means that the results are not generalisable beyond this limited demographic