Control and self-confidence as reflected in sex-bound patterns in communication: an experimental approach

Very little of the recent research on ’sex and language ’ has contributed much to our understanding of the actual nature of these phenomena. There has been a failure to adopt a communication perspective, and the impact of the situation has been ignored. This present study assesses the verbal communication of the four possible dyadic sex combinations (male → male; male → female; female → male; female → female) in two apparently similar, but in reality highly different communication situations, in that while the first is simple and straightforward, a communication conflict is induced in the latter. Whereas the traditional stereotypes concerning ’sex and verbal communication ’ are clearly reflected in the first situation, a radically different pattern is exposed in the conflict situation. The different sex-bound patterns of communication efficiency across situations are discussed within the framework of general communication theory in terms of the participants ’ confidence (in self and other) and their manner of exerting control