Gender and Conversational Style as Predictors of Conversational Behavior

Abstract

Because gender and speech style co-vary, effects that have been attributed to speakers’ gender-based status might in fact be consequences of how people respond to particular styles of speech. To examine the relative impact of gender and speech style on conversants’ speech behavior, female and male confederates were trained to employ a facilitative or a nonfacilitative style of speech in interactions with young adults. Analyses of participants’ conversations with confederates showed that confederate speech style, rather than confederate gender, was a more reliable predictor of participants’ speech behavior. In conjunction with analyses of participant accommodation to confederate speech, the results revealed subtle differences in how women and men responded to the behavior of confederates.