Different believes are the causes of the differences of body language. According to the theories proposed by American anthologists Barnettt Pearce, Verrion Cronent, people’s behavior, the way of thinking and so on are affected by their believes. And every culture has its distinctive belief system. A normal action in this culture will be abnormal in another one. A positive behavior in one culture will be negative in another. People from eastern world advocate modesty, tolerance, mutual-support and responsibility for the group. But western people admire independence, self-respect, free development, and requiring individual space and so on. Next, we will go to the differences of body language from five parts.
4.1 Eye Language
As saying goes “The eyes are the window of the soul”. That is to say, we can read one’s mind through his/her eyes. Eye language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators. People from English speaking countries have more eye contact when they are in conversation. According to American tradition, communicators must gaze at each other. “But there are many rules about eye language: Whether to look at the other communicator or not; when it is the time to look at them, how long we can look at; who we can look at and who we can’t; they all imply different meanings in communication.”[6]p94 In Juliets Faster’s book “Body Language”, there is a paragraph which can explain the problem. “Two strangers sit face to face in the dinning room in a train; they can introduce themselves to each other. When they are eating, they can talk anything else. They also can avoid eye contact and do not show interest in each other. A writer described this situation in an article “They look over the menu again and again, play with knives and look at their nails. It seems that they look at them for the first time. If their eyes meet, they will turn away immediately and look out of the window.”
(4) Americans pay great attention to the time and the way of eye contact. In common conversation, they will look at each other about one minute and then they will look away. If two Americans gaze at each other, which indicate they are intimate. In North America, the children there have learned to look at the other communicator directly. If they don’t, they are regarded lack of enthusiasm or confidence. They believe the saying “Never trust a person who can’t look you in the eyes.”[7]p36
(5) If two Arabians are in conversation, they will look at each other warmly. Because they think eyes are the key of their existence. But in American eyes, they think this behavior is unsuitable or a homosexual behavior. The educated Englishmen believe direct eye contact with our communicators is gentlemanly. But Swedenians use eye language more often than Englishmen. And the French especially like to look attentively at the other communicators with admiration. Japanese often look at the other communicator’s neck when they are in conversation. They believe eye contact is impolite. And Chinese consider gazing people is an unfriendly behavior and it is a challenge. Some South American Indians used to look at different directions when they are talking. In the Middle East, it is considered extremely provocative for a woman to let a man catch her eyes, let alone, return his gaze.