Gender and Communication Flashcards
What is judgement accuracy?
the ability (/how well someone can) to judge other peopleâs emotions and mood
Hall (1978) reviewed 75 studies of posed (participant asked to adopt an expression) and spontaneous (participants watch a video which evokes a certain emotion) expressions. Decoders were asked to identify the nature of the film. What did they find?
24 significant differences, with 23 in favour of women
Hall (1984) reviewed a further 50 studies. What was found?
11 significant differences with 10 in favour of women
What is the difference between decoders and encoders?
Decoders: watch the people and make judgement as to whether theyâre being honest or dishonest about what the encoders are watching
Encoders: usually watch videos and talk while watching the videos, saying that they see
What is Expression Accuracy?
How easily oneâs emotions can be judged
Hall (1979) reviewed 26 studies, studying expression accuracy was was found and what does this indicate?
9 significant gender differences were found, 8 in favour of women suggesting that women encode their emotions more clearly
Hall (1984) reviewed a further 17 studies, what did they find?
9 significant gender differences, 7 in favour of women suggesting that women typically erode more clearly so their non-verbal behaviour is easier to read
what is something we need to consider when talking about accuracy?
accuracy does not necessarily represent a social advantage, instead itâs more the importance of situational context
What are channel differences?
different forms of non-verbal communication i.e. gaze and smiles
LaFrance & Hecht (2000) conducted a meta-analysis of gender and smiling. What did they find?
- Highly significant differences between gender (mean effect size: d=.40)
- women smile more than men
- differences between gender were most pronounced in the 18-23 year-old-group
- for white europeans, gender differences are significantly greater, where females smile more than men
- some cultural variations found in these gender differences
Hall (1984) further reviewed 119 studies of gaze and gender, what did they find?
- every study with a significant gender difference showed females gaze at others more
- these results are consistent with female advantages on tests of judgement accuracy
What are the two main explanations for gender differences for NVB?
- Social Power (if youâve got less social power, itâs more important to be able to read NVB of other people -> need to know if someone is a threat / should engage what other peopleâs intentions are [power and skill in decoding non-verbal skill)
- Socialisation
* understanding what others seek to communicate and making sure your own messages are easily understandable
* i.e. women are socialised to be accommodating to other people
How did Layoff (1973) describe gender differences within speech?
- suggests âwomenâs languageâ is a language of powerlessness
- women are apart of the deficit model
What is the deficit model?
typically the way males speak is normative, but the female way deviates from that
How did Lakoff (1973) describe female speech?
- Forms of politeness
- Tactful, hesitant, lower in authority
- Hedges (mitigating devices which lessen the impact of an utterance, e.g., perhaps, sometimes, I think, kind of)
- Tag questions (e.g., doesnât it?, isnât it?)
- Higher in grammatical accuracy
- Intensifiers (e.g., extremely, so, very)
- Direct quotes
- Low in humour
How was male speech characterised?
- More direct, explicit (e.g., âGive me thatâ)
- More interruptions (for control of conversation)
- More foul language
- More simplified language (e.g., dumbing down for social bonding)
- Higher in humour
What is a criticism of Lakoffâs research?
claims are based on personal observations and attitudes
Name two empirical features that are used in Holmes (1985) research..
Hedges and Tag Questions
What are Hedges?
i.e. âyou knowâ
mitigating devices which lessen the impact of an utterance
What are Tag Questions?
i.e. doesnât it? isnât it?
* may turn a statement into a question