Gender-Linked Differences in the Style and Content of E-Mails to Friends

Abstract

Previous research has found gender differences in the style of language used in both written communication and face-to-face interaction. Such differences have also been found in electronic interactions with strangers. This study examined the style and content of emails describing a recent holiday written by men and women for male and female friends. In line with traditional gender stereotypes, some gender differences were found in the topics covered, in the form of greater coverage of the social and domestic topics of shopping, night life, and cost by women; and the impersonal, external topics of the location, journey, and local people by men. The e-mails from female participants contained a higher incidence of features associated with the maintenance of rapport and intimacy than those from male participants, and this was more pronounced in the e-mails from female participants to male friends.