Seychelles

Greetings

Men greeting Men – A handshake is the most common form of greeting.

Women greeting Women - A handshake is the most common form of greeting at initial meetings. Good friends and family will often engage in a kiss on the cheek.

Greetings between Men & Women – A handshake is the most common form of greeting at initial meetings. Good friends and family will often engage in a kiss on the cheek.

Note: Children are usually expected to greet adults with a kiss on the cheek when introduced.

Communication Style

• Communication is generally direct with the Seychellois.

Personal Space & Touch

• Personal space is does not tend to be highly valued. Less than an arm's length is usually the norm. People generally have very few boundaries, which can be disconcerting to many Westerners.
• Light touching during conversations is very common with whoever one is interacting with.

Eye Contact

• Direct eye contact is desirable and expected in most situations.

Gestures

• The thumbs up sign is a very common gesture and is used to denote general satisfaction, often upon greeting.
• Pointing is done with one finger.
• The length of an object is shown by marking the place on the arm with the forefinger, from tip of the hand.

Views of Time

• Time tends to be a truly fluid concept in the Seychelles. Punctuality is not valued much at all, though some effort is made in business situations.
• People are very generous and giving with their time.

Gender Roles

• Seychelles is a matriarchal society. The women tend to be the ones who run businesses and are also very present in the government. They may dress as they please and are generally very free.
• is a predominantly Catholic country and old-fashioned attitudes towards the sexual behavior of women prevail. (Note that this is somewhat hypocritical, as most women are not overly modest.)

Taboos

• There is a dress code in the evenings. Men have to wear long trousers and women are encouraged to dress up (no shorts and/or beach wear).
• Women should not be too friendly and open with the men, as this is often misconstrued for sexual interest.

Law & Order

• The legal drinking and smoking age is 18. They are not at all heavily enforced and consumption of alcohol is widespread amongst the youth.
• Penalties for possession of illegal drugs are heavy and enforced. Nonetheless, there is heavy use of marijuana and, more recently, heroin. Aside from law enforcement for drug use, not many laws are enforced. Drunk driving, for instance, is very common and usually overlooked. The police themselves are often guilty of this crime.

Dress

• For Men - Fairly casual, long trousers and a shirt, no tie needed in most situations.
• For Women- Knee length skirts and a blouse.

Titles & Business Cards

• Usually, even in a business setting, first names are used nowadays. Amongst the older generation, surnames with a Mr. or Mrs. may be used.

• If people give out business cards at all, which is rare, it is usually given with one hand.

Meetings

• Meetings tend to be very casual in the Seychelles.
• Some measure of punctuality is expected, but meetings usually proceed on an ad hoc basis.

Negotiations

• Bargaining is not common. Decisions are made fairly quickly and negotiations are very up front.

Gift Giving

• Gifts are not common in business settings.

In the Classroom

• The local schools begin in January and have their long vacation in December. The international school follows the British school calendar.