Summary: Gender Differences In Nonverbal Communication

The literature selected focuses on the differences between the genders in nonverbal communication. There are several nonverbal functions and forms that could be discussed, but this literature review primarily focuses on the points that are relevant to the analysis. The section concludes with several key criteria points that the analysis will be based off of. Julia T. Wood explains that there are three main functions to nonverbal communication: To supplement verbal communication, to regulate interaction, and to “convey the bulk of the relationship level of meaning” (2014). While the first function will not apply to the analysis in this paper, the two others will. According to Knapp, Hall and Horgan, some researchers believe that the main function …show more content…
According to Wood, research shows that women generally are more responsive in communication than men, and she explains it with the concern of maintaining relationships and showing empathy toward others that is cultivated in feminine speech communities (2014). Wood and Gamble and Gamble agrees that women indicate engagement, emotional involvement and empathy by smiling, maintaining eye contact and direct body orientation, while men, who have been conditioned to focus on status and power, lean forward, use large gestures and vocal cues to establish their position in the …show more content…
The use of nonverbal cues in the two sexes are different in a way that we message they send out are opposites. Wood explains that women use cues such as tilting their heads, smiling and “condensing” their bodies to take up less space, and that makes them seem approachable and friendly. Men, on the other hand, use large gestures, take up space and enter others’ territories, and their at times aggressive movements tend to indicate that they are reserved and in control