Transcript Gender Differences in Communication

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN
COMMUNICATION
“Communication between men and women can be like cross cultural
communication, prey to a clash of conversational styles” (Deborah Tannen 1990)
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Who talks more, men or women?
Men talk more than women in public situations, but
less at home. (Deborah Tannen)
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How many words per day do women use? Men
use?
20,000 words per day, 7,000 words per day
(International Women’s Day Facts)
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During conversations, men spend more time looking
at their partner than women do.
False
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Women use less personal space than men do
True
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Which group is more like to change its mind more
frequently?
Women tend to take longer to make a decision, but
are more likely to stick with the decision, compared
to men, who are more likely to change their mind
after making a decision.
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Women are more likely than men to disclose
personal information.
True
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What do the majority of women cite as the reason
for filing for divorce?
Lack of communication
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Who is more adept at reading nonverbal cues?
Women
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Which side of the brain do men heavily rely upon?
Right or Left?
The Left. Women have four times as many brain
cells (neurons) connecting the right and left side of
their brain. Men rely easily and more heavily on
their left brain to solve one problem one step at a
time. Women have more efficient access to both
sides of their brain and therefore greater use of
their right brain.
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Who has a better memory?
Women have an enhanced ability to recall
memories that have strong emotional components.
Men tend to recall events using strategies that rely
on reconstructing the experience in terms of
elements, tasks or activities that took place.
For Most Women Communication is
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Used to establish and maintain relationships
For sharing and learning about others
And Talk is the essence of relationships
For Women, Equality is Key
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Equality between people is generally important
try and achieve symmetry
often match experiences
“you’re not alone in how you feel
 “I’ve done the same thing many times”
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respond and build on each other’s ideas
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Rather than “you-tell-your-idea-then-I’ll-tell-mine,” voices weave
together to create conversations.
Support
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Often express Understanding & Sympathy
“Oh, you must feel terrible”
 “I think you did the right thing”
 “I really hear what you are saying”
 “I’m sorry”
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At the Relational Level, Women
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Focus on feelings
Focus on relationship between communicators rather
than content
often probe to understand feelings
“Tell me about what happened?”
 “How did you feel when it occurred?”
 “Do you think it was deliberate?”
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Content is dealt with but also feelings involved.
Conversational Maintenance
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Women’s style is conversational maintenance work
efforts to sustain talk
often initiate topics for others
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“How was your day”
“Tell me about your meeting”
“Did anything interesting happen on your trip”
For Men
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Use talk to establish and defend personal status
and ideas
When comforting, they do so by respecting others’
independence and avoiding condescending
Conversational Dominance
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Men tend to dominate conversations - talk more
than women
Talk more frequently
For longer duration
Select topic of discussion
Interrupt more
For Men
Language tends to forceful, direct, authoritative
 Less use of hedges and disclaimers
Are less responsive
More “minimal response cues”
Less sympathy and self-disclosure
 Sympathy seen as sign of condescension
 Personal problems seen as vulnerability
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Relationship Talk
For Men: It’s going fine if there is no need to talk
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Talk is to solve problems
Talk indicates a problem
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Duck when she says, “we need to talk”
For Women: It’s going fine if there is talk
Talk is a process to sustain the relationship
Talk is a way to show closeness
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“We need to talk,” to affirm our caring