Differences in Communication between Men and Women

1183 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Differences of gender in language

It is a well-known fact that men and women have vastly different styles of nearly everything, communication not excluded. Women tend to be more talkative and emotional whereas men are usually reserved and not quite as open with their emotions. Many differences indeed exist between the spoken language of males and females. What about body language? Nonverbal cues are often difficult to notice and even harder to understand. Some people may not even realize when they are communicating in this sense. Like the spoken word, nonverbal communication usually varies between males and females, depending on relationships, environments, and circumstances. Learning why different genders communicate in this manner, the various ways in which they do this, and why it matters is important as it can affect several areas of one’s life.
Communication is the means by which people share and spread ideas, emotions, and information. Once again, this means is true for nonverbal communication. This is a general and universal concept. Why do opposite genders treat it so differently? One of the underlying reasons for this is the motive behind the “conversation” that is taking place. John Gray, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, explains this by saying, “Men generally communicate to transmit information and solve specific problems, while women usually use communication to express feelings and achieve emotional intimacy”. Since nonverbal communication is often emotional and expressive, this is indicative that women are more prone to actually use nonverbal communication than men are. For example, women are more likely to use eye contact during conversation than men so as to create an emotional connection with or measure the sincerity of the pers...

... middle of paper ...

...language-to-reveal-the-truth-in-almost-any-situation>.
"Gender and Non-Verbal Communication." West Virginia Department of Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. .
Hutchison, Peter. "Body language: how to tell if someone likes you." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 19 Mar. 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. .
Pease, Allan, and Barbara Pease. The definitive book of body language. Bantam hardcover ed. New York: Bantam Books, 2006. Print.
Thompson, Jeff. "Beyond Words." Are Man and Woman Equals in Nonverbal Communication?. Sussex Publishers, 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Mrs. Doubtfire: Nonverbal Communication

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    The presence of nonverbal messages in our communication is very important. Following the text, researchers have estimated it is up to “65 percent of social meaning we convey in face-to-face interactions is a result of nonverbal behavior” (131). The movie “Mrs. Doubtfire” is a typical example about the interactions among characters, also with audience. Several scenes in this movie show us the effects of nonverbal messages in communication, especially through the character Daniel, who disguises himself as a middle-aged British nanny in order to be near his children.

    Read More

  • Interpersonal Communication in Disney Pixar’s ‘Up’

    2111 Words  | 5 Pages

    Communication is everywhere. We, as interactive human beings, spend the majority of our time corresponding with others to satisfy our physical, identity, social, and practical needs (Adler, Rodman, & Sevigny, 2011). Often, this is consciously done; we search our minds for the accurate linguistic means to express our experiences, and use them to communicate with those around us. However, communication is not as straightforward and effortless as we may believe. It is, in fact, often unintentional, with 65% of it occurring as a result of non-verbal cues (Matsumoto, Shibata, Seiji, Mori, & Shioe, 2010). As mentioned by Marta Dynel (2011) in a study done on nonverbal communication, “Non verbal signs and signals ... are prevalent practically in all social encounters, which entail at least two individuals, who need not even talk or consciously interact otherwise”. Examples exist in all mediums, including in the animated film ‘Up’, where one scene depicts transactional communication between a male and female character, all expressed nonverbally . The nonverbal communication in this scene, along with various other communication constructs, will be discussed.

    Read More

  • Group Development Observation System

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    Verbal communication is intended to deliver a specific message (Carnes, 2015). It is ideal for communicating face to face, long distance, or even using technology driven formats (Carnes, 2015). Nonverbal communication is immediate (Carnes, 2015). Through the eyes or even a soft touch, emotions can be displayed (Carnes, 2015). As it relates to men and women, there are differences in how both use verbal and non-verbal communication. Men communicate verbally to offer solutions that are goal oriented (Carnes, 2015). Women communicate verbally to show empathy and focus on relationship building (Carnes, 2015). On the other hand, women are very in tune to understanding non-verbal communication, while men tend to miss subtle signals (Carnes,

    Read More

  • Men And Women Communicating

    1828 Words  | 4 Pages

    Communication between males and females has always been somewhat complicated. Because we are arguing that males and females have different cultures we wanted to take a look at what some of these differences might be. According to our research the inherent differences between male and female culture are the different roles that society holds for them and the ways these roles lead to different communication styles. The stereotypes that men and women grow up with affect the types of ways in which they communicate. We first wanted to take a look at how they specifically differ while men and women are arguing or having normal conversations. We also looked at the different types of networks that men and women share. These networks also differ and as do the reasonings for their formation. Although we do not think that men and women need to change their cultures to effectively communicate, we do think that better communication is possible. One of the researchers we took a look at was Deborah Tannen. According to Tannen the reason that men and women do not communicate well is that men and women use language differently. Women take the attitude that conversation is to explore solutions to common problems while men concern themselves more with getting information and hard data from conversation. Tannen states that what women look for in communication is human connection, while men consider status to be most important. They are looking for independence and are constantly looking for higher accomplishments. Intimacy threatens this independence, so men have a tendency to avoid it. One of the old sayings about women is that they talk more than men. It turns out that it is not necessarily true. Women seem to talk more in private conversations than do men. Women do not generally have a fear of intimacy and therefore are much more open with one another during private conversations. It is more difficult for women to use this type of communication style in the public arena. In that case it is men that do most of the talking. Tannen ultimately argues that men use communication as a weapon. They use long explanations to command attention from who it is they are speaking to. They use it to convey information and to ultimately gain agreement. Tannen suggests that through even simple conversation men are continually protecting their status. She sugg...

    Read More

  • Observing Gender Communication Differences

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    Further evidence of communicative differences exist between men and women in various other social settings as well. Consider, for example, those individuals employed in customer service-related Jobs. While in JC Penny, I noticed that female customer service representatives were more apt to offer immediate friendly assistance than the male reps. Men are not as cocky nor as confident in this sort of situation; their eyes tend to dart around the area of the store while the eyes of a women remain focused upon the eyes of the customer. The men seem to communicate with a lot less smiles. Apparently they have to get past a certain “ice-breaking'; point before they will feel comfortable with a genuine look of happiness.

    Read More

  • Nonverbal Communication: Cultural Differences Across Cultures

    1615 Words  | 4 Pages

    Harper, R, 1978. Nonverbal communication: The State of the Art. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Read More

  • Differences in Male and Female Communication

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lieberman, Simma. “Differences in Male and Female Communication Styles” Simma Lieberman Associates (undated). Retrieved February 25, 2010<

    Read More

  • Gender Differences in Communication

    2349 Words  | 5 Pages

    A lot of attention has been dedicated to the thought that women and men communicate very differently from one another. In this paper I am going to discuss the gender differences in communications between the opposite sexes. Many believe that gender plays a major role in communication but in all reality, that isn’t the case. Several factors play a part in how someone communicates with another person regardless of their sex. The main question is what role does gender play in communication or is it the roles our cultures put on genders’. In my opinion, it is the way we were raised that affects the way we communicate.

    Read More

  • The Genderlect Style Theory

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wood, J. T. (2011). Gendered Verbal Communication. Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture (10th ed., pp. 118-137). Boston, MA: Cengage.

    Read More

  • Cultural Sensitivity

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    Axtell, E. R. (1993). The dos and taboos of body language around the world. In Social interaction in everyday life (chapter 22). Retrieved from http://www.sheltonstate.edu/Uploads/files/faculty/Angela%20Gibson/Sph%20106/taboos0001.pdf.

    Read More

  • First Impressions

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Body language reaches beyond the arenas of just what we are doing with our full, physical being. Eye contact and voice tone also play into body language, and we can often lose sight of how these pieces fit into the full puzzle. The inability to maintain eye contact with someone can convey a lack of respect or personal confidence or can be perceived as dishonesty (Reiman, 2008). The ability to maintain a low voice can also convey dominance and confidence.

    Read More

  • Sexism in Language

    1977 Words  | 4 Pages

    We all know that men and women are different. They look different, act different, walk, talk, and even smell different. In part, the simple fact that we are different explains why we sometimes have trouble communicating with and understanding the opposite sex. However, a close look at our language may show that there is more to the communication barrier between the sexes than meets the eye.

    Read More

  • Differences Between Men and Women

    1921 Words  | 4 Pages

    Men and women communicate completely differently almost speaking two languages.Men and women have two different conversational cultures. Men speak in order to set the tone and expect support and attention from their partner while women talk to please others...

    Read More

  • The Importance of Effective Communication

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.

    Read More

  • The Reflection Of Verbal And Nonverbal Communication

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    I learned a lot about Human Communication in this class when I read the chapter about Nonverbal Communication. Nonverbal Communication is the process of using messages that are not words to generate meaning. I learned that it happens every day. I also learned that is very hard to read or understand depending on the person you are speaking to or with. Verbal and Nonverbal codes work in conjunction with each other. The words we speak or say are used in conjunction six different ways: to repeat, to emphasize, to complement, to contradict, to substitute, and to regulate. I never knew until reading this chapter that we do these things all most every time we communicate. These are things I took for granted until now. I now know that I will pay

    Read More

More about Differences in Communication between Men and Women

Open Document