Power in gendered talk-in-

interaction

Ifrim Corina-Andrea
 Motivatiile
 Research questions

 Theoretical background
SEX AND GENDER
Sex Gender

 Biological and  Socially constructed

physiological roles that a given
characteristics that society considers
define men and appropiate for men
women and women
Men Women

Group-oriented Individual oriented

 Teamwork = strong  One-on-one talking
group of friends (one or two best
friends)
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
MEN WOMEN

 Avoid direct eye-  Direct, face-to-face

contact gaze
 Are still listening,  Used to focus on
although they may not connection
look directly at you  Misinterpret no eye-
 Misinterpret direct contact as a sign of not
eye-contact as listening
confrontational or
flirtatious
MAN AND FEMALE COMMUNICATION
STYLES

MEN WOMEN

 Power relations  Solidarity

 Hierarchical  Consensus-based

 Power based  Inclusion, sharing

 Direct  Indirect

 Expressing concepts  Expressive feelings

 More frequent  Active listening

interruptions
MAN AND FEMALE COMMUNICATION
STYLES
WOMEN – RAPPORT
MEN – REPORT TALK
TALK

 Men communicate to  Women communicate

establish social to establish support
hierarchies circles
Women Men

 Rapport  Report
 Supportiveness  Dominance

 Building relationships  Individuality

 Ask questions  Avoid questions

 Cooperate  Assert
A COMMON CULTURAL STEREOTYPE
DESCRIBES WOMEN AS BEING
TALKATIVE, ALWAYS SPEAKING AND
EXPRESSING THEIR FEELINGS. WELL,
THIS IS PROBABLY TRUE; HOWEVER, DO
WOMEN DO IT MORE THAN MEN? NO!
IN FACT THE EXPERIMENTS DESIGNED
TO MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF SPEECH
PRODUCED SUGGESTED THAT MEN ARE
MORE PRONE TO USE UP MORE
TALKING TIME THAN WOMEN.
 The experiment I have made shows a small
difference between the style of communication,
between men and women, but it still exists.
 This paper will analyze a short recorded
sample of natural conversation in order to
discuss if the following claims can be supported
by research: a) women talk more/less than men;
b) women break the ‘rules’ of turn-taking less
than men c) women use more standard forms
than men; and d) women’s speech is less
direct/assertive than men’s.
 1) The data collected showed a very slight
difference with respect to the amount of words
uttered by women and men. In the present study,
men talked roughly 20 percent more than
women.
 2) Turn-taking was roughly distributed in the
conversation. As noted, Alex was the only one to
have interrupted the other participants
 3) Language was used by both men and women in
a very informal way on account of the relaxed
atmosphere created in the social setting in
question- a birthday party.