Influence of Communication Partner’s Gender on Language

Abstract

Forty participants (20 male) had 3-minute conversations with trained male and female communication partners in a repeated-measures, within-subject design. Eighty 3-minute conversations were transcribed and coded for dependent clauses, fillers, tag questions, intensive adverbs, negations, hedges, personal pronouns, self-references, justifiers, and interruptions. Results suggest no significant changes in language based on speaker gender. However, when speaking with a female, participants interrupted more and used more dependent clauses than when speaking with a male. There was no significant interaction to suggest that the language differences based on communication partner was specific to one gender group. These results are discussed in context of previous research, communication accommodation theory, and general process model for gendered language.

The Strength and Challenge of Diversity

“…Numerous studies show that women are interrupted more frequently than men. 33,34 Sometimes interrupting is necessary, but it is the verbal equivalent of shoving; it should be avoided unless there is a problem, because being interrupted is a frustrating experience, regardless of gender. Make a point to raise your awareness of how often and when you interrupt, and be especially attentive when interacting with women.…”

Sustainable Networking for Scientists and Engineers full book

“…Some people are qualified as "highly sensitive" because they possess "sensory processing sensitivity" (SPS), which means that they have elevated levels of empathy, are very aware of their surroundings, and can be easily overwhelmed and overstimulated by large numbers of people, bright lights, and loud noises. 34,35 While the majority of highly sensitive people also qualify as introverts, there are also highly sensitive extraverts, who are invigorated by stimulating social situations but simultaneously experience sensory overload. 36 Just like introversion, high sensitivity has valuable aspects but can also pose an obstacle to certain in-person networking events.…”

The Silent Topic of Sexual Child Abuse in Sports in the Academic Literature: How Network Governance, Public Branding, and Design-Oriented Public Administration Provide Avenues for Future Research

“…These cultural elements allow men greater opportunity to act and assign men"s actions greater significance (Butler, 1993). Reflective of this, research shows that in mixed-gender groups, women are afforded fewer opportunities to speak and women"s words are given less credence (Hancock & Rubin, 2015). When a sport organization"s culture features these patriarchal cultural elements, it undermines, according to Palmer and Feldman (2017) effective response to child sexual abuse.…”