Social Engineering Blogs

An Aggregator for Blogs About Social Engineering and Related Fields

Trait Psychology- Dr. David Matsumoto

In the video below Dr. Matsumoto explains the structure of traits- dispositions that we have to act or behave in a certain way.

Studies that involve analyzing traits, especially across cultures, have come to find that there seems to be a universal structure of traits.  That is, people all around the world have basic traits that are consistent regardless of the culture they are from, such as conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, extroversion, and neuroticism.

Click here to view the embedded video.

These “Big Five Traits”, as psychology has coined them, have been found in every culture that has been studied (this is not to say that different cultures do not display any other traits).

“There is a lot of evidence that suggests that there is a biological component to traits [as well as a cultural one],“ purported Dr. Matsumoto.

Italian Gestures and Nonverbal Communication

Thumbs up - Gestures, Emblems & Cultural Variances - Humintell As mentioned in a past blog post entitled “The Complicated World of Gestures”, there are 2 types of gestures: speech illustrators and emblems.

Emblems are gestures that convey specific verbal meaning that can exist without the use of words. Other gestures (that are not emblems) co-occur with words.

Gestures have been a part of Italian culture for some time and many Italians claim that talking with their hands is “in their blood”. Take a look at the interesting video below featured in a recent NY Times article entitled “When Italians Chat, Hands and Fingers Do the Talking”.

Gestures and Culture

stockvault-the-eight-wonder100380Gestures are one of the first things to come to mind that can cause a major cultural faux pas.  People from every culture have been guilty of unintentionally offending people from other cultures through the use of inappropriate gestures.

Huffington Post reports on the dos and don’t in cultural gesturing.

For instance in America we tend to use the OK sign to communicate that everything is going well.

In many countries such as Brazil, Germany and Russia, the OK sign is offensive.  In Japan it means “money” and is commonly used in France to mean “zero“.

Another example of gesture confusion across cultures, that the article points out, is the “V” hand symbol used most often in America to represent “peace“.  Popularized during the 1960′s but first used by Winston Churchill in England around WWII, this seemingly benign symbol can mean so much more.   In Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and a few other countries, it can mean “up yours“  if it is made with the palm is facing inward.

The thumbs-up gesture is commonly used in America as well as other cultures to signify a job well done. However, in Australia, Greece, or the Middle East — especially if it is thrust up as a typical hitchhiking gesture would be — it means essentially “Up yours!” or “Sit on this!”

Body Language conveys roughly 90% of what we communicate to the people around us.  It is vital especially for good relations that we are aware of how and what we communicate to people from different cultures.

Humintell understands the importance of proper communication across cultures, which is why we have developed IntelliCulture – Humintell’s cross-cultural adaptation training tool.  IntelliCulture helps you understand what culture is, which groups have culture and which do not as well as how to think critically when encountered with a difficult cultural situation.

Have a better understanding of the definition of culture and where it comes from
Understand which groups have culture and which ones don’t
Understand what culture is made of and how it influences behavior
How to overcome cultural differences
How to control your emotions when dealing with people from other cultures
Think critically when encountered with a difficult cultural situation
Improve interactions among people of different cultures

– See more at: http://www.humintell.com/improving-your-global-skills/#sthash.5dMqMONU.dpuf

Have a better understanding of the definition of culture and where it comes from
Understand which groups have culture and which ones don’t
Understand what culture is made of and how it influences behavior
How to overcome cultural differences
How to control your emotions when dealing with people from other cultures
Think critically when encountered with a difficult cultural situation
Improve interactions among people of different cultures

– See more at: http://www.humintell.com/improving-your-global-skills/#sthash.5dMqMONU.dpuf

 Do You Know Any Cultural Gestures that Weren’t Mentioned?
Share them with the Humintell Community!