A dissertation submitted to the Gradual School of University of International Business and Economics in Partial fulfillment of the requirement for t h e degree of Master of Arts Supervised by Professor Ding Hengqi
University of International Business and Economics
April 2000 Beijing, China An Analysis of Nonverbal Communication in Intercultural Business Negotiation
(Abstract ) Wang Jing
In the past 20 years, business negotiation has been a much debated research topic, especially in applied linguistics and in communication science, whereas nonverbal components of intercultural communication,which are crucial to success in business, have not been given enough attention.
As there is a tendency for every cultural group to believe that their own nonverbal behavior is universally correct, misunderstandings , even conflicts can arise easily during negotiations .
This paper tries to focus on these cultural clashes , in order to show how the functions of nonverbal communication, such as uttering emotions, showing personal attitudes, giving information on personality, are to be8......

CONTENTS
Preface……………………………………………………………… 1
Chapter 1. Research in Business Communication……… 3
1.1 The Research Instrument : The Kelley- Game……… 3
1.2.The Established Research Paradigm : Hofstede’ s
Multicultural Study……………………………….. 4
1.2.1.Power Distance……………………………………8.
1.2.2.Individualism vs. Collectivism……………….. 11
1.2.3.Masculinity vs. Femininity…………………… 13
1.2.4.Uncertainty Avoidance…………………………. 14.
Chapter 2. Nonverbal Communication………………………. 15
2.1.Proxemics………………………………………… 17
2.2.Body Postures…………………………….. 19
12
2.3.Gestures…………………………………………… 20
2.3.1.Illustrators……………………………………. . 20
2.3.2.Adaptor…………………………………………20
2.4.Facial Expression……………………………………23
2.5.Paralanguage……………………………………… 25
Chapter3. Hofstede’ s Indices and Nonverbal Communication………27
3.1.Analysis of Power Distance in Case Study……………27
3.2.Analysis of Individualism vs. Collectivism in Case
Study.. ……………………………………………… 28
3.3.Analysis of Masculinity vs. Femininity in Case Study…30
3.4.Analysis if Uncertainty Avoidance in Case Study. 31
Conclusion………………………………………………………… 33
Bibliography………………………………………………………… 35

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