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Becoming A Master Student, Concise, Tenth Edition
Dave Ellis
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Chapter 8: The Face of Diversity
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Gender and culture together regulate how, when, and to whom facial expressions are displayed. If you did not have native expertise or were not aware of a culture's prescriptions for emotional expression, for example, you might be insensitive to the cultural nuances conveyed by particular behaviors.
While being careful about over-generalizing, consider the following culturally based attributions. Unlike their Caucasian peers, African American women do not smile more than African American men. Feminine socialization functions differently in the African American community than it does in middle-class Caucasian communities.
In many Mediterranean cultures, people exaggerate the externalization of their emotions; it is not uncommon in Mediterranean countries to see men crying in public; unlike U.S. Caucasian men, they have not been socialized to suppress felt emotions. In contrast, Asian men, in an effort to conceal their anger or disgust, may smile and laugh in lieu of revealing their actual feelings. Thus, in Asian cultures, the smile may be a tool for dissembling, and may be used to mask a genuine emotion. In Thailand, sometimes referred to as the Land Of Smiles, people just smile a lot.
How large a part does body language and facial expression play in communicating across cultures? Have you ever experienced difficulty in understanding someone from a different cultural background? How could those misunderstanding be resolved by understanding of that cultures mannerisms?
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