Article Effects of Conversation Partners ’ Gender-Language Consistency on References to Emotion, Tentative Language,

The study examined how a conversation partner’s gender and gender-language consistency influence communicators ’ gender-based language (i.e., references to emotion and tentativeness) and gender identity salience. In an email exchange, an experiment manipulated an ostensible conversation partner’s gender and use of references to emotion in ways stereotypically consistent or inconsistent with the partner’s gender. The conversation partner’s gender and gender-language consistency affected communicators ’ references to emotion in ways that generally confirmed hypotheses. Participants ’ references to emotion were congruent with the conversation partner’s use of references to emotion regardless of participants ’ own gender. Results pertaining to tentative language and gender salience demonstrated no substantive differences. Keyword