From: nickh@CS.CMU.EDU (Nick Haines) Subject: Re: interesting research on men and women Date: Fri, 21 May 1993 16:11:12 -0400 In article <1993May21.132400.25111@sei.cmu.edu> pjf@sei.cmu.edu (Priscilla Fowler) provides us with an interesting set of analyses of gender-related stereotype. I have some comments, including at least one factual correction...: 4. During conversations, women spend more time gazing at their partner than men do -- TRUE. Many studies -- with subjects ranging from infants to the elderly -- have shown that women are more likely than men to gaze at their partner. One reason may be that men talk more and women listen more. Research shows a listener of either sex looks more at a speaker than the speaker looks at the listener. We're not actually told whether this possible reason is true. It's inserted uselessly into the paragraph. If it _is_ true, doesn't it deserve an analysis of its own? 5. Nonverbal messages carry more weight than verbal messages -- TRUE. Nonverbal messages carry over four times the weight of verbal messages. Other research shows that in most two-person conversations nonverbal messages convey more than 65 percent of the meaning. Women seem to communicate more effectively on this nonverbal channel. They are also more likely to reflect their feelings through facial expression. Bogometer alert. What does `65 percent of the meaning' mean? What is 65% of the meaning of a conversational statement? What does `over four times the weight' mean? These are precisely the kind of bogus statistic that give such studies a bad name. If they have a meaning, the meaning is never presented. 9. Women are more likely to touch others than men are -- FALSE. In fact, just the opposite is true. Throughout their lives women are more likely to be touched than men. The touching of women by men -- guiding them through the door, assisting them with coats, helping them into cars -- happens so frequently that it goes virtually unnoticed. Nancy Henley studied couples in a variety of outdoor settings and found that men touch women far more than the reverse. While many would describe this touching as indication of warmth and intimacy or even as a sexual overture, Henley believes that it is nonverbal display of power. This paragraph doesn't tell us anything about the relative likelihood of women and men `touching others'. It tells us something about the likelihood of men touching women and of women touching men. What about the other 2 classes of touch? Oh, and Henley's beliefs aren't particularly relevant unless they're backed up by some research. 13. Women use less personal space than men -- TRUE. [...] Women also use space in a more confining way. While men are more likely to sit with arms and legs apart, women cross legs or ankles and sit with hands in their laps -- taking up far less space. This reduced control of space or territory is characteristic of those with less power and status. The use of the word `far' here is a bit extreme IMO. 15. In general, women speak in a more tentative style than do men -- TRUE. [...] There are consequences to using "women's language." Both men and women who speak in a tentative, non-assertive style are less likely to be believed by a jury. In fact, only recently has the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) allowed women to read the news over the air because they were perceived to lack credibility or authority. Here's my factual correction. `Only recently' in fact means `for more than twenty years.' I _think_ Angela Rippon was the first woman BBC newsreader. That was around or before 1975 (I can't pin it down exactly but I can't have been older than 7). In other words, this statement is a lie. 20. In general, men smile more often than women -- FALSE. Women are far more likely to smile than men. They do this in many different social situations even though they are not necessarily happy or amused. In one field study researchers smiled at approximately 150 males and 150 females in public. In general women returned the smiles more often than men. Women returned the smiles to men 93 percent of the time and to other women 86 percent of the time. Males smiled back at women 67 percent of the time, and they returned smiles to men 58 percent of the time. The researchers concluded that women give more than they get in this smiling exchange. "Women are exploited by men -- they give 93 percent of the time but receive in return only 67 percent." Hmmm. So if I smile at 200 randomly chosen people, I'll get 151 smiles back. If my fiancee smiles at 200 randomly chosen people, she'll get 153 smiles back. We both `give more than we get,' and in fact she gets back more than I do. The last statement is bogus too: women don't `give' 93% of the time: they _return_ 93% of the time. The study does not investigate how often people smile spontaneously at each other. Nick Haines nickh@cmu.edu