The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Communication 227

to negative social behavior with more negative

social behavior; Wood & Rhodes, 1992).

Given this brief summary of quite dis-

tinct interaction styles, I now must caution you

that sex differences in interaction styles are not

that clear cut. The way women and men be-

have with one another is qualified by a host of

other variables. As noted by Aries (2006), “we

need to move beyond the conception that the

interaction styles of men and women reside

within individuals.” The context is important.

Qualifiers of Sex Differences

One determinant of sex differences in inter-

action styles is the nature of the task. Men are

more task oriented in masculine situations,

whereas women are more task oriented in fem-

inine situations. A task orientation includes

making suggestions and providing informa-

tion. Thus a certain degree of confidence in or

knowledge of the situation is required before

we engage in task behavior. Women and men

are likely to be more confident in situations

relevant to their own sex, which enables them

to make suggestions and provide information.

Because masculine situations are studied more

often, it may only appear that men are more

task oriented than women.

Another major determinant of women’s

and men’s interaction styles is the sex of the

person with whom they are interacting. For ex-

ample, in a study of dyads, Carli (1989) found

that women displayed more positive social be-

havior (e.g., agreeing with their partners) and

men displayed more task-oriented behavior

and disagreement when they were interact-

ing with members of the same sex. However,

both women and men used more feminine be-

havior (e.g., agreement) with female partners

and more masculine behavior (e.g., disagree-

ment) with male partners. In other words, just

as in the studies of children, men and women

accommodated to each other. As shown in

Figure 7.3, both men and women engaged in

more task behavior when they were paired with

men than with women (panel a), and both men

and women engaged in more positive social

behavior when they were paired with women

FIGURE 7.3 (a) Both men and women display more task behavior when they interact with a male than a

female. (b) Both men and women display more positive social behavior when they interact with a female than

a male. Numbers represent the percentage of all behaviors displayed in a particular dyad.

Source: Adapted from Carli (1989).

Task Behavior

70

50

40

30

20

10

0

Male Partner

(a)

Female Partner

Male Female Male Female

60

Positive Social Behavior

14

10

8

6

4

2

0

Male Partner

(b)

Female Partner

Male Female Male Female

12

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