Smell Smell, as a means of nonverbal communication, is important. Odor communicates not only when we are face to face with another person, but also when the other person is not present. People from different cultures may have different attitudes toward body odors. Most people in the West respond negatively to what they consider bad odors such as body odor, breath odor, or clothes that emit unpleasant smells such as sweat. They work hard to cover up their body odor and view those with body odor as dirty and unsanitary. However, people usually are not comfortable in discussing the topic, and generally will not tell another that his or her body odor is offensive. They will simply avoid being close to the person and will end the conversation as quickly as possible. Other cultures have quite different concepts of natural odors; they consider them as normal and believe that it is an act of friendship to “breathe the breath” of the person with whom they converse and to feel their presence by smelling. For example, Arabs don’t seem to feel comfortable unless they can smell each other. When Arabs talk, they virtually envelop each other in their breath. Smelling the natural body odors of one’s friend is desirable; denying him or her this privilege is to act ashamedly. In other cultures smell also plays an important role. In Japan, young girls will often play a game involving the placing of five fragrances in tiny boxes. The girl who identifies the most aromas wins the game. In Bali, Indonesia, when lovers greet one another, they often breathe deeply in a kind of friendly sniffing. It is not uncommon for young lovers in the Philippines to trade small pieces of clothing on parting so that the smell of the other person will evoke their affection for each other. Not knowing cultural variations in attitude toward smell can create uncertainty and even ill feeling. For example, a medical doctor from Saudi Arabia once worked in a hospital in the southern United States. Problems arose when patients refused to have the Saudi doctor examine them. Interviews with patients revealed two problems: He “smelled bad” and he breathed on the patients. The doctor’s training had apparently failed to include the difference between Arabic and American attitudes and practices relating to smell. Clearly, encounters between people with such widely differing attitudes could lead to serious miscommunication. To maintain harmonious intercultural business relationships, one should remember these diverse attitudes toward smell.
