Abstract: “This study analyses the role general self-efficacy plays within the relationship between culture and communication behavior in an unstudied Arab culture; Syria. Participants were 402 undergraduate students at Damascus University. General self-efficacy mediated the relationship between culture and touch, eye contact, gestures, paralinguistics, facial expressions, interpersonal distance and tolerance for disagreement. Thus, indicating that perceptions of ‘the self’ reduces the impact of culture on individual behavior. Results from this study could help for the better understanding of Arab communication behavior and for the increase of the generalizability of theories developed in Western societies.”

Keywords: Communication; GSE; Collectivism; Individualism; Syrian Arabs.