Communication is the process of exchanging information between individuals using verbal and non-verbal elements. As defined by Wood (2004), "Communication is a systemic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings.” Though the communication pattern aims in communicating effectively in clear, concise and accurate manner, the gender of the people involved in communication affect it.
The communication pattern of male and female are termed as "report talking” and "rapport talking” respectively. The report talk is directed at the content while rapport talk is directed at establishing relationships (Mohindra & Azhar, 2012).Men tend to focus more on reason, logic, power, status, competition, thoughts and team while talking. On the contrary, while communicating, women tend to focus on feeling, empathy, harmony, closeness, relationships, co-operation, intuitions, sharing and group. The culture helps in setting up these communication pattern. Especially in the eastern society like ours, from the earlier age, boys are told to be tough and strong. As a result of these, the men give more priority to content and facts than emotions during a conversation.
Some of the behaviors of men and women that make the communication pattern different between genders as mentioned by (Bell & Smith, 2014) are:
Men want to keep their problems and personal issues to themselves while women talk to others regarding their issues to seek for possible solutions.
Men take asking for help as a sign of inability but women perceive is as a means to build relationships.
Men tend to forget the disagreements after a certain time and women will stick to it for longer.
Men are direct at giving criticisms and complements while women look for buffers while doing so.
Women tend to mix the issues from their personal life with business talks unlike men.
Women tend to avoid direct confrontation about offensive behavior as opposed to men who take immediate stand.
To sum up, there are certain strengths and weaknesses of each gender that affects the communication pattern. Women are good at reading body language, listening and displaying empathy. Similarly men at good at commanding physical presence, to- the- point interaction and displaying power. However, being too emotional, non-authoritative and mandering are the weaknesses of women. Being too direct, insensitive and overconfident serves as communication weaknesses for men (Goman, 2016). Thus for effective communication, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each gender.
References
Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2014). Management Communication (3 ed.). New York: Wiley.
Mohindra, V., & Azhar, S. (2012). Gender Communication: A Comparative Analysis of Communicational Approaches of Men and Women at Workplaces. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (JHSS), 2 (1), 18-27. Retrieved from iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/...
Wood, J. T. (2004). Communication Theories in Action: An Introduction (3 ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth
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Communication is the process of exchanging information between individuals using verbal and non-verbal elements. As defined by Wood (2004), "Communication is a systemic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings.” Though the communication pattern aims in communicating effectively in clear, concise and accurate manner, the gender of the people involved in communication affect it.
The communication pattern of male and female are termed as "report talking” and "rapport talking” respectively. The report talk is directed at the content while rapport talk is directed at establishing relationships (Mohindra & Azhar, 2012).Men tend to focus more on reason, logic, power, status, competition, thoughts and team while talking. On the contrary, while communicating, women tend to focus on feeling, empathy, harmony, closeness, relationships, co-operation, intuitions, sharing and group. The culture helps in setting up these communication pattern. Especially in the eastern society like ours, from the earlier age, boys are told to be tough and strong. As a result of these, the men give more priority to content and facts than emotions during a conversation.
Some of the behaviors of men and women that make the communication pattern different between genders as mentioned by (Bell & Smith, 2014) are:
To sum up, there are certain strengths and weaknesses of each gender that affects the communication pattern. Women are good at reading body language, listening and displaying empathy. Similarly men at good at commanding physical presence, to- the- point interaction and displaying power. However, being too emotional, non-authoritative and mandering are the weaknesses of women. Being too direct, insensitive and overconfident serves as communication weaknesses for men (Goman, 2016). Thus for effective communication, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each gender.
References
Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2014). Management Communication (3 ed.). New York: Wiley.
Goman, C. K. (2016, March 31). Is Your Communication Style Dictated By Your Gender? Retrieved from Forbes: forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/...
Mohindra, V., & Azhar, S. (2012). Gender Communication: A Comparative Analysis of Communicational Approaches of Men and Women at Workplaces. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (JHSS), 2 (1), 18-27. Retrieved from iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/...
Wood, J. T. (2004). Communication Theories in Action: An Introduction (3 ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth