A smile goes a long way. When a person smiles at you, it probably would not even cross our minds to question whether or not that person is happy. This is certainly true for U.S. Americans, who understand smiles to be an expression of happiness and friendless, but what about other cultures? The fact is that other cultures do not always interpret things the same way. For example, suppose a Japanese woman is explaining her absence from work due to a death in the family. She may do so with a smile, based on the cultural belief that it is inappropriate to inflict pain or grief upon others (Lafayette De Mente, 2005). For the U.S. American witnessing the situation, though, this may seem strange and even cold, under the given circumstances. This is only one example of a potential misunderstanding that may arise due to cultural differences in interpreting nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication becomes a part of the communication process "when someone intentionally tries to convey a message or when someone attributes meaning to the nonverbal behavior of another, whether or not the person intended to communicate a particular meaning" (Lustig & Koester, 2003, p. 176). The nonverbal message is just as important as what people say. The problem arises when there is a lack of knowledge of the fact that one culture may interpret a nonverbal message differently from another culture. In other words, an innocent gesture for one person can mean something completely different, and even offensive, for another person from a different culture. My thesis is that differences in interpreting nonverbal communication may lead to conflicts and misunderstandings between cultures.
             Cultures vary in their nonverbal behaviors in their repertoires, their corresponding display rules, and their preferred interpretations. "Misunderstandings often occur in the interpretations of nonverbal behaviors because different display rules create v...