As a kid, receiving a lecture from my stepfather, (raised by his Victorian British grandparents), I was expected to make FULL, UNDIVIDED EYE CONTACT the ENTIRE TIME. If I looked down or away, he took it as a sign that I was purposefully ignoring him and being disrespectful, and I’d be in deep shit for it.
My stepmother, on the other hand, (Cree Canadian), took to the total opposite way- if I was in trouble with HER, it was proper form to keep my eyes downcast or pointed away from her face- she’d react to excessive eye contact like I was mentally flipping her off the whole time, and THAT made shit WORSE.
And geez, did that shit take a while to figure out.
He’d think I was telling him to fuck off when I was really feeling ashamed, and she thought I was telling her to eat shit when I was trying to show that I was attentive and sincere.
Body language isn’t 100% universal, and it’s a pain whenever someone gets to they’re Sherlock fucking Holmes