The effects of relative status on the non-verbal behavior and cognitive responses of interviewees were examined across all four sex pairings using a controlled interview format. Relative status was manipulated by dressing and describing the same interviewers differently in high and equal status conditions. Consistent with the importance of relative status in Japanese social life, differences were found across a wide range of non-verbal behaviors, especially in the paralinguistic channel. Based on cognitive measures and on the results of previous studies, these changes were explained as arising from the increased arousal and anxiety produced by interacting with higher status persons. Sex differences in several types of non-verbal behavior were also seen. Correlations between these non-verbal variables and the cognitive responses suggest that some of these sex differences in non-verbal behavior are situation-specific, and depend on how males and females construe the interview situation. Other differences in nonverbal behavior were found to be unrelated to such cognitive response and thus appear more generalizable across situations. Comparisons with Western research were made along with suggestions for conducting cross-cultural research of non-verbal behavior.