Introduction

The purpose of this proposal is to answer the research question: does gender affect communication? Do you ever wonder why your spouse answers a question the way he or she does, or why you are able to discuss certain topics with a female or male friend, but not your spouse? We all communicate every day. Being aware of communication differences can benefit you in your everyday life; from dealing with your spouse, child, to a co-worker. It can help you to understand that not all men and women think or talk alike. Situations may be handled differently all based upon one’s gender. The articles and books that I used are from experts in the field of communication between men and women. 2 of my books are from renowned author Deborah Tannen. Both books discuss the communication differences between men and women and one goes further to discuss how it affects relationships. You Just Don’t Understand: Men and Women in Conversation describes how intimacy and independence are a factor when men and women communicate. Women tend to lean more towards intimacy- connections and networking of family and friendships, whereas men to independence- means of establishing a role or purpose. Because one or the other is more important, it aids in fogging the lines of communication (Tannen, 1990). Things that are more important to us reflect in our communication with one another. Tannen (1986) in I Didn’t Mean That: How Conversational Styles Makes or Breaks a Relationship finds that changing your style of conversation may be all that you need to avoid that argument. When women understand how a man communicates and a man understands how a woman communicates, it helps them to get along better. Next, I researched a few scholarly journals to see if other experts viewed the situation in the same perspective as Tannen. In Language Convergence and Meaning Divergence: A Meaning Centered Communication Theory, Dougherty, Klatzke, Kramer, and Rogers believe that the interpretations of flirting and sexual gestures are viewed differently based upon gender. Their study results showed that more men find a variety of women’s gestures to be sexual and flirtatious (Dougherty, Klatzke, Kramer, & Rogers, 2009). The next article, Regulating Partners in Intimate Relationships: The Costs and Benefits of Different Communication Strategies, views communication from the standpoint of an intimate relationship. This article believes that a lot of downfalls in relationships are a result of negative communication (Fletcher, Overall, Sibley, & Simpson, 2009). The last article that I used as part of my research, “Women, men differe in comfort levels while talking,” did a survey and concluded that women are more comfortable talking to health professionals and men are more inclined to talk to co-workers. In addition the studies also show that both men and women equally like talking to children the least (“Women, men differe,” 2000).