Cross-Cultural Nonverbal Communication in Ireland

 Importance of Understanding Intercultural Communication

When people examine Ireland’s culture, they should contextualize Irish nonverbal signals, which benefits intercultural communication (“Ireland Business Culture”). Larry Samovar, author of Communication Between Cultures, asserted that someone should “understand how each situation might influence the meaning given to” nonverbal signals (Samovar, 2017, p.335). This idea framed nonverbal language as signals that people assign meaning to based on cultural values (Samovar, 2017, p.335). For example, when I greet someone from Ireland, I should maintain direct eye contact while shaking their hand and limit “personal displays of affection” (“Etiquette Tips to Know Before Traveling to Ireland,” 2019). This greeting symbolizes trust between me and an Irish citizen, which supplies nonverbal communication “feedback” (“Etiquette Tips to Know Before Traveling to Ireland,” 2019). Samovar reiterated this notion when he claimed that “feedback also affords [people] the opportunity to immediately correct and adjust [their] next message” (Samovar, 2017, p.336). He suggested that interactive “feedback” allows people to understand the cultural context behind nonverbal signals (Samovar, 2017, p.236). One question remains: how cultural context solves intercultural communication problems (Samovar, 2017, p.335)?

Irish Social Gathering at a Pub

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge

While America and Ireland share similar intercultural communication customs, Americans misinterpret nonverbal language signals, such as personal space, which challenges cross-cultural communication (Samovar 2017, p.323). Samovar argued that “the link between space and culture [is] seen in the values of individualism and collectivism” (Samovar, 2017, p.323). This idea implied that cultural values dictate the distance between people, and how they define personal space (Samovar, 2017, p.323). For example, an Irish citizen requires people to keep an “arms-length” distance when they communicate and limit their physical contact, which suggests that they value their personal space  and expect others to respect those communication boundaries (Zachwieja, 2017). Because of this requirement, I may assume that all Irish citizens are standoffish because they keep a distance from each other, which leads to inaccurate “generalizations” (Samovar, 2017, pp.19-20; Zachwieja, 2017). Samovar reiterated these “generalizations” when he asserted that when people exchange non-verbal signals, they should be “aware of the ambiguous nature of this form of interaction” (Samovar, 2017, p.301). This idea illustrates that we should acknowledge the complexity of nonverbal communication and the cultural meanings associated with certain signals (Samovar, 2017, p.323).

Ireland's "Slow Clap"

How Ireland Perceives Time and Its Effects on Intercultural Communication

While the United States governs its life according to rigid schedules, Ireland takes a more relaxed approach to time, which demonstrates that they represent a polychronic culture (“Etiquette tips to know before traveling to Ireland”). Samovar defines “polychronic” cultures as those that value human interactions and relationships over deadlines (Samovar, 2017, pp.330-331). This idea framed a culture’s sense of time as more fluid and less rigid than a monochronic cultures (Samovar, 2017, pp.330-331). For example, Irish citizens may attend meetings fifteen minutes past when they are supposed to start, but they expect non-Irish citizens to arrive on time (“Irish Culture, Manners, Etiquette and Politeness”). This expectation implies that Ireland focuses on developing relationships with people that are not defined by time constraints (“Irish Culture, Manners, Etiquette and Politeness”). The article “Irish Business Culture” reiterated this idea when it claimed that Ireland’s lax approach to time allows them to be “flexible and great at improvising” (“Irish Business Culture”). One question remains: how does Ireland’s sense of time affect intercultural communication?

"8 gestures that every Irish person understands"