Preview

Difference in Communication Between Men and Women Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
364 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Difference in Communication Between Men and Women Essay Example
What are some ways that men and women differ in their listening behaviors? To what extent do you perform these behaviors?

Its fun to look at communication differences between men and women but we also have to be careful to not stereotype and assume that all men will act a certain way and all women will act a certain way. There are some examples I can give to demonstrate these differences :
Women are more likely to talk to other women when they have a problem or need to make a decision. Men keep their problems to themselves and don’t see the point in sharing personal issues.

Women are more relationship oriented, and look for commonalities and ways to connect with other women. Men tend to relate to other men on a one-up, one-down basis. Status and dominance is important.

Women focus on building rapport, by sharing experiences and asking questions.
Men like to tell and give information rather than ask questions. They share experiences as a way of being one-up.

If women have a disagreement with each other it affects all aspects of their relationship.
Men can have a disagreement, move on to another subject and go get a drink together.

Women get things done at work by building relationships. Men build relationships while they are working on tasks with each other.

At meetings women nod their head to show they are listening. Men think the woman is agreeing with them. He then assumes the women will go along with his idea. He is surprised when she later disagrees, since she nodded her head. She has no idea why he thought she agreed with him since he never asked her.

At meetings, men only nod their heads when they agree. If a women is speaking and she doesn’t see his head nod as he listens, she assumes he either disagrees or is not listening.

In my prespective, too often men and women see the differences between each other and make each other wrong, rather than appreciating how they can benefit from those

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    When I look at the topic male-female communication, the first thing that comes up to my mind is that man and woman must have a very good communication, because there are only men and women in the world. But as I think a little bit deeper, there is something different between a man and a woman, different types of talking styles, different ways of thinking, and different point of views. For instance, if a guy thinks that he spends too much time on his girlfriend, but somehow she might think that he doesn't have enough time to be with her, so that if they are not willing to communicate to solve this problem, they will break up very easily. So when two different kinds of people get together, problem and conflicts will appear between them. There are two articles "His Talk, Her Talk" by Joyce Maynard and "Man To Man, Woman To Woman" by Mark A. Sherman and Adelaide Haas. Both articles talk about the same topic male-female communication.…

    • 775 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Can differences in communication between men and women be defined as black and white? Deborah Tannen’s essay “But What Do You Mean” divided the biggest areas of miscommunication between men and women into seven categories, three of which caught my attention for personal reasons. As examined, women have a habit of apologizing to maintain a pleasant atmosphere. Tannen expressed how men and women react to complaints, as well. Jokes were also discussed, suggesting that men razz each other to maintain a one-up position; however, women’s jokes tend to put themselves down. Regarding Tannen’s description of these three communication categories, my personal experiences fall more within a grey area rather than assigning themselves to black and white roles.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is because men dont usually like to look the other person in the eye much when they are being spoken to. They are more easily distracted by their surroundings, and so their eyes tend to wander around. An example is given between a guy and his girlfriend where the man would lie down on the floor and cover his eyes with his arms when his girlfriend was talking to him. This gave the girlfriend the impression that her boyfriend was taking a nap and completely ignoring her. In actuallity, he is trying to concentrate by blocking his vision from surrounding distractions. When women talk, they tend to stay on one topic, whereas men like to jump from one topic to the next. This leads to the next point that the author makes, which says that men often switch topics. This gives the woman the impression that they are not really listening. Men’s coversation dont normally last very long, but women tend elaborate much in a within a…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first similarity that Tanner explains, is that women and men seek trust in a relationship with their friends, they just have different ways of expressing them. Women tend to search for intimacy in a friendship that occurs through deep conversations. Tanner states, “little girls create and maintain friendships by exchanging secrets; similarly, women regard conversation…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women tend to think men are not listening to them based on the position men take when carrying on a conversation. Most women, when talking, tend to look one another in the eye. Men on the other hand tend to look around the room, occasionally catching a glance at the person they are conversing with. Women also tend to…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are some distinct differences between how men and women use and understand communication. There are differences in how we approach, laugh, or relate to a conversation based on the genders of each party that may arise in some challenges. Understanding of how each gender interacts with certain topics makes…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Men are usually trying to be above each other which is something Tannen calls “one-up”. It is like men are always in competition with people around them. For example, in chapter 2, Tannen explains why men don’t ask for directions. She explains, “The fact that you have the information, and the person you are speaking to doesn’t, sends a metamessage of superiority. If reasons are inherently hierarchal, then the one who has more information is framed as higher up on the ladder, by virtue of being more knowledgeable and competent.” This shows how men are always trying to be at the top of every conversation. They want to know everything, in order to be at the top of everyone.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Health 101 Notes

    • 2457 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Women are often more affiliative in their communication patterns, tending not to initiate conflict, and usually trying not to hurt the feelings of others.…

    • 2457 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this chapter, Floyd (2011) discusses the many ways that gender affects interpersonal relationships. He describes is as a “defining feature of our identity, shaping the way we think, look, and communicate” (p. 51). It is explained that each gender culture puts emphasis on different parts of the relationship. Women come to value communication and closeness, while men value taking part in activities together (Floyd, 2011, p. 57). This makes sense when I think about how I communicate with men versus with women.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Special Issues Megan Huff

    • 1755 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gender has been widely studied when it comes down to communication and how both men and women do so. Everyone has heard the saying that women speak more mindlessly than men and because of this a woman’s speech is assumed to be less assertive and lacking in power than a man’s speech. However, this is certainly not true. “In one Toronto classroom, the males were found to speak 75-80% of the time (Gaskell, McLaren, & Novogrodsky, 1989)” (Meier, 1999). It has also been found that men tend to interrupt in conversations more so than women do and are also more competitive in conversation and communication. Men and women definitely communicate differently; however, this is…

    • 1755 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women are easier to get lost than men is. When she gets lost, she usually asks for direction. She thinks that will help her save time to get to her destination. However, it will be dangerous if she asks someone who has criminal intent. On the other hand, men is different with the women; they do not want to ask for direction even they are lost because they always thinks that if they ask someone for information, it means they down grade themselves and lost their confidence. Moreover, this is also humiliating for him. Therefore, it makes him to preserve his independence and self-esteem, so the men will wait his time to find out the solution to solve the problem and easy to get…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The fact that men and women are different in their communication styles is understandable. They differ in the way they think and it shows in the way they talk and communicate with each other. Though their communication is unlike each other, we do speak the same language –to each gender it just might have a different meaning, connotations or personal messages.…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    English

    • 2524 Words
    • 11 Pages

    want silent attention and to point out the other side of the argument while women want the…

    • 2524 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to cross-cultural differences between genders such as gender role association, observational learning and operant conditioning men and women communicate differently. Because of communication differences between genders they…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Men and Women Communicate

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages

    I have always heard that men and women are from different planets and have their own cultures, while in reality we have all grown up on the same planet and interact with each other in different ways on a daily basis. Men and women are different in many ways; they see the world through completely different perspectives. The key to understanding the differences is in the way men and women communicate. Men and women differ psychologically in the way they act, from the style in which they communicate to the way in which they attempt to influence others. These gender differences in communication and influence tactics also have implications for gender differences in communication styles; communication differences in the workplace; differences in non-verbal and verbal communication; and miscommunication between men and women. Differences in communication style between men and women are visible physically, mentally and behaviorally. These two genders are different at the way how they act, sense, think and speak. Furthermore, one of the major dissimilarity between the sexes is the way they communicate. Therefore, the major common of dissimilarity in communication affects both sexes in every perspective.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays