Gender Differences in Conversational Receptiveness

Abstract: We identify conversational receptiveness as a behavior that is essential for productive conflictual dialogue and more common amongst women, and consider mechanisms underlying the gender difference in receptiveness. We use linguistic analysis to compare women’s and men’s conversational receptiveness during disagreement. Overall, we find that women express more receptiveness than men do, with a few specific linguistic cues that seem to be driving the gender difference (Study 1). Additionally, we examine the potential of interventions to boost men’s receptiveness, and consider communicators’ own evaluations of receptiveness (Study 2). Finally, we shed light on a promising mechanism underlying the gender difference in receptiveness: women and men may express different levels of receptiveness due to their different conversational goals (Study 3). By identifying and addressing varying levels of receptiveness expressed by women and men when discussing disagreement, we contribute to our understanding of how to foster more productive and inclusive discourse.

Keywords: gender; conflict; conversation; natural language processing