Physiognomy personality. Physiognomy is also sometimes referred to as anthroposcopy, though the expression was more common in the 19th century when the word originated. Notions of the relationship between an individual's outward appearance and inner character are historically ancient, and occasionally appear in early Greek poetry. Siddhars from ancient India are also known to have defined "samudrika lakshanam" that identifies personal characteristics with body features. Chinese physiognomy or face reading ("mianxiang") reaches back at least to the Northern Song period. The first indications of a developed physiognomic theory appear in fifth century BC Athens, with the works of Zopyrus (who was
Body-to-body communication bowing to a person indicates rank and status in Japan, but has little to no meaning in the United States. As for facial expressions, Asian cultures tend to suppress any facial expression whereas Mediterranean cultures exaggerate facial expressions when expressing sadness or anger. Although nonverbal communication is expressed differently across cultures, some is thought to be universal across cultures. This universal nonverbal language is thought to encompass human emotions, such as sadness, grief, anger, happiness, etc. A culture is a shared system of socially transmitted behavior passed on from previous generations that describes, defines, and guides people's ways of life.