Thesis Abstract and Dissertation Abstracts
Thinking More Versus Less About Interpreting Nonverbal Behavior: A Gender Difference in Decoding Style
Abstract Category: Science
Course / Degree: Ph.D.
Institution / University: Northeastern University, United States
Published in: 2011
Researchers have found a gender difference in nonverbal decoding ability, with males tending to be less accurate than females at decoding (i.e., interpreting) senders’ (i.e., those who transmit nonverbal messages to others) non-deceptive nonverbal behavior (Hall, 1984). The goal of the present research was to investigate whether there is also a gender difference in decoding style, that is, whether there is a difference in how males and females tend to approach the task of decoding senders’ nonverbal behavior.
The theoretical basis for a gender difference in decoding style was the different interpersonal styles of males and females. Females tend to be more communal or interested in maintaining harmony and interdependence in their relationships with others, whereas males tend to be more agentic or interested in maintaining control and autonomy in their relationships with others (Bakan, 1966; Cross & Madson, 1997; Eagly, 1987). It was reasoned that, in order to fulfill their greater need for communion with others, females might be more concerned with how effectively they are using their nonverbal decoding skills. By monitoring or thinking about the process of decoding senders’ nonverbal behavior, females would be in a better position of knowing when they are and when they are not being sensitive and responsive to the unstated needs and feelings of others.
It was hypothesized that the decoding style of males is different from that of females in the following way: Males tend to think less than females do about the process of decoding senders’ nonverbal behavior as they are decoding senders’ nonverbal behavior. To investigate this possibility, males' and females' nonverbal decoding accuracy was tested under experimental conditions that either favored thinking about the process of decoding senders’ nonverbal behavior (i.e., females’ hypothesized decoding style) or minimized the extent to which each could do the same (i.e., males’ hypothesized decoding style).
Using the Interpersonal Perception Task-15 (IPT-15; Costanzo & Archer, 1993), which is a test of accuracy in decoding nonverbal behavior, females were more accurate than males when each had to evaluate their own decoding accuracy (Experiment 1) and when each had to consciously reflect on why they were interpreting the behavior of senders the way that they were (Experiment 2). In both experiments, females outperformed males on the IPT-15 mainly because males experienced a significant decrease in nonverbal decoding accuracy from the control condition to the condition in which they had to think more about the decoding process (i.e., the self-evaluation and self-reflection conditions). In Experiment 3, no gender differences in nonverbal decoding accuracy were found when males and females had to perform a concurrent memory task as they took the IPT-15, and thus could not think as much about the decoding process (i.e., relative to controls). In Experiment 4, males and females were required to either perform a think-aloud task (they had to verbally describe how they were interpreting the behavior of senders) or a cue-memorization task (they had to memorize the cues of senders) while taking the IPT-15. Each sex was relatively more accurate on the IPT-15 when using their hypothesized decoding style – for females, thinking more (the think-aloud condition), for males, thinking less (the cue-memorization condition) about the decoding process.
This research has shown that males may be less used to monitoring or thinking about how or how well they are decoding the meaning of senders’ nonverbal behavior, because their decoding accuracy got worse when they had to do so. This does not mean that females are always thinking more than males are about the process of decoding senders’ nonverbal behavior. Rather, the greater communal orientation of females may lead them to be more accustomed to thinking about the nonverbal decoding process, and so their decoding accuracy does not suffer when they need to do so.
Dissertation Keywords/Search Tags:
Gender, Nonverbal Behavior, Decoding Style
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Submission Details: Dissertation Abstract submitted by Terry Horgan from United States on 24-Jan-2011 19:04.
Abstract has been viewed 2820 times (since 7 Mar 2010).
Terry Horgan Contact Details: Email: thorgan@umflint.edu
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