A Contrastive Study Of Power And Equality Relation Between Chinese And Western In Nonverbal Communication

In cross-cultural communication,as well as verbal behavior,nonverbal behavior is also a sign of interpersonal social relations between communicators.It marks the relations of �power� and �equality� between the speaker and the hearer.Over the past few decades,most of the experts and scholars focus more on the relationship between the �equality� and �power� in the aspect of the way people speaks namely verbal behavior.Experts pay less attention to the level of nonverbal behavior.However,nonverbal behavior is one of the important means of human communication.It is the most sensitive and effective way to mark the social relationship.So this thesis mainly studies how power and equality relation affect nonverbal behavior in cross-cultural communication between China and Western countries.In different societies,people often use different non-verbal behavior to show the social status and social relations between each other.If you are not familiar with others' cultural practices and the relation of �equality� and �power� in different communicative settings well,which will cause unnecessary misunderstanding and communication barrier in intercultural communication.In this thesis,the author has carried a comprehensive analysis on the nonverbal communication and �power� and �equality� relations,including literature review abroad or at home,definitions,characteristics,functions and classifications.And then the author made cultural comparison under different cultural backgrounds to know the different meaning and functions of nonverbal communication caused by different social relation between Chinese and Western countries.All of these will help us to improve the ability of cross-cultural communication and avoid cultural conflicts.This thesis is divided into five chapters:The first chapter is the literature review.We mainly introduce the background,purpose,significance and the design of the research.We also summarized some predecessors' study of nonverbal behavior and power and equality relations and pointed out the problem in present study.The second chapter is the introduction of nonverbal communication theory and equality and power relations,we also introduce the applications of the relation of �power� and �equality� in recent study.The third chapter is the most important part of the thesis.The author will list some specific examples of nonverbal communication to analyze the influence caused by the relation of �power� and �equality� in nonverbal communication among different countries.The author studies the power and equality on nonverbal behavior,such as eye contact,facial expression,posture,dress,color,silence,voice set,and space,seat-arranging.In the fourth chapter,the author mainly analyzes some deep-seated reasons which cause difference in intercultural nonverbal communication such as the difference in value(collectivism and individualism,the concept of equality vs.the sense of hierarchy,power distance)and the difference in thinking style(integral thinking vs.analytic thinking,concrete thinking vs.abstract thinking)In the fifth chapter,the author will put forward some nonverbal communication strategies and concrete suggestions for intercultural communication.such as understanding and accepting differences in nonverbal behavior,overcoming cultural superiority,cultivating cultural sensitivity,adjusting emotional response for differences in nonverbal behavior,cultivating empathy,and adapting different culture to reduce the misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication and ensure the cross-cultural communication carry on smoothly.In the conclusion of this thesis,we pointed out the findings and limitations in the research.We wish all of these can give some enlightenment for developing competence in cross-cultural communication.