The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

258 Chapter 7

in studies of group interactions. According to

social role theory, men’s communication is

a function of their instrumental orientation,

and women’s communication is a function of

their expressive orientation. Support for this

theory comes largely from studies showing

that nonverbal differences between men and

women persist across situations, including

different statuses.

There are two primary explanations

for sex differences in communication: status

and social role. According to status theory,

men’s communication is a function of their

higher status, and women’s communication is

a function of their lower status. A number of

compelling studies show that men and women

behave the same when status is held constant.

Evidence for status theory is especially strong

1. Compare laboratory and field
   research on sex differences in
   communication. In which
   areas of communication do
   you expect laboratory research
   and field research to come to
   different conclusions?


2. Discuss girls’ and boys’ different
   play styles and explanations of their
   origins.


3. From what you have learned in this
   chapter, in what ways do you expect
   girls’ and boys’ online behavior to be
   similar? To be different?


4. What are some of the factors that af-
   fect men’s and women’s interaction
   styles?


5. What are some of the moderator
   variables of sex comparisons in
   language?
   6. Which sex differences in language and
   nonverbal behavior are best explained
   by status theory, and which are best
   explained by social role theory?


6. Imagine you are studying patient–
   physician communication. What
   other variables would be impor-
   tant to know besides the sex of the
   participants?


7. Why are women more easily influ-
   enced than men? Is this an advan-
   tage or a disadvantage for women?


8. What is the best leadership style
   for women to adopt? Under what
   circumstances?


9. How would you determine whether
   men or women are more emotional?


10. What are the implications of the dif-
    ferent attributions people make for
    women’s and men’s emotions?

Discussion Questions

Brody, L. R., & Hall, J. A. (2008). Gender

and emotion in context. In M. Lewis,

J. M. Haviland, & L. Barrett (Eds.),

Handbook of emotions. New York:

Guildford Press.

Dindia, K., & Canary, D. J. (2006) (Eds.).

Sex differences and similarities in com-

munication: Critical essays and empirical

investigations of sex and gender in interac-

tion (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Suggested Reading

M07_HELG0185_04_SE_C07.indd 258 6/21/11 8:11 AM