Gender differences in communication

Gender Difference & Communication

Women and Men Miscommunicate Because of Different Words and Different Worlds

There are many instances when we hear problems that results from miscommunications between the male and female gender. There are also many times when we hear that one reason to such miscommunication is differences in the words and worlds of both genders. This reason seems to be a general rationale that observers find as the cause of the gender communication problems. To be able to comprehend with how differences in words and worlds of the male and female gender affect communication, this paper will try to provide some viewpoints and concept on the topic.

Differences in What They Call Their "World"

Men and women have many differences and if we are to list them all, it will perhaps take as forever. However, to mention the known fact to all of us, men and women were created wherein each has features and characteristics that are unique from the other. For instance, men by nature have greater physical strength than women. This difference then causes one disparity in what both genders consider as their "world." One evidence to this is that men's characteristic of greater strength causes them to have endeavors that are different as compared to that of women's, such as difference in terms of interest in types of sport or interest in types of job. Women, on the other hand, who are of weaker physical strength get interested in less dangerous adventures or sports that require no great amount of strength. While men are more interested in boxing, women can be more interested in gymnastics.

These kinds of differences result to different worlds between men and women.

If we are to examine and carefully analyze, the differences in what both genders consider as their "world" would all basically root from the differences of the physical nature of men and women. That is, the fact that God had created man and woman different from each other.

The differences mentioned in the previous paragraph, as some examples of the differences in the "world" of men and women, can cause further differences between the two genders. One of the most common reasons for gender miscommunications is gap on viewpoints and concepts of both genders. As with our previous example of how differences in physical nature of male and female cause differences in each gender's interests, differences in viewpoints can further arise. That is, one gender may say that their type of sports or job is more productive than that of the other's, or one may say that they do better in a particular field than how women do. For instance, when it comes to a job, say as a driver by profession, most of the time there are discriminations that exist against female drivers. The concept that female drivers are not good drivers or are slow drivers sometimes discourages passengers to hire their service. This is due to the conventional practice that people had grown up with that driving as a profession is a job for men. However, to the non-gender discriminating people, or to the female gender itself, the concept that what men do can also be done by women becomes an argument to the male and female genders. This thus proves that differences in how both genders consider their "world" cause miscommunications between them.

Differences in Words

We never fail to hear these two similar sentences as one gender regards to the other.

Women are so hard to understand."

Men are so hard to understand."

One reason that causes one gender to say such perception about the other gender is the differences in words that both gender has. Perhaps, one best example where differences in words cause miscommunication between men and women is in the topic of relationships and love.

When it comes to relationships, psychologists suggest that one must know how to read between the lines because there are instances when words are not said directly nor said straight to the point. Rather, the real meaning of what has been said can be found in the actions done. However, due to differences in words, where one fails to understand what the other really means, miscommunication starts to exist.

Previous studies and researches conducted on how men and women communicate indicate that there are two types of communication interpretation. These are direct and indirect interpretation. In the direct interpretation, one conceives information in a literal manner. That is, comparing to the sense of vision, it is similar to "WYSIWYG" (what you see is what you get). For instance, when one says to you to "Go away," what you should do is to leave the place. In the indirect interpretation, on the other hand, information is taken in a metaphorical sense depending on the situation where the information is released. For instance, in our example of a relationship, there are times when what one had said means the opposite of what has been said.

The communication types mentioned in the previous paragraph does not specify which gender is direct and indirect because both men and women have tendencies of communicating in either manner. How one communicates actually depends on his or her personality. However, in general, it is most common that differences in words occur between men and women because of their differences in personality, thus causing differences on how they must relate to each other and how they must interpret a particular communication in a particular situation. For instance, when men communicate with each other, they usually know that they must interpret their conversations directly.