The influence of culture on the production and perception of silent communication

Abstract

Cross-cultural differences in communication can lead to differences in the practice of nonverbal communication. Considering silence as an aspect of nonverbal communication, the aim of this study was to determine whether there would be differences between Dutch and Spanish people with respect to their use of silent communication when communicating with a superior. Four different functions of silence were distinguished: (1) silence to display emotions, (2) silence to disempower, (3) silence as a turn-taking principle, and (4) silence as a face-saving strategy. These functions were expected to relate to specific characteristics of several of Hall’s (1976) and Hofstede’s (1980; 1984) cultural dimensions on which Dutch and Spanish speakers were expected to differ, namely cultural context, individualism, and power distance.