It is generally believed that men and women are different from each other, biologically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. These beliefs give rise to stereotypic notions regarding the traits and abilities of each sex. Consequently, it is not surprising that people believe that women and men show distinctive patterns of nonverbal behavior.
Decades of research have tended to corroborate stereotypic differences between the sexes. For example, in comparison to women, men tend to take up more space; appear more relaxed; interrupt, stare, and touch more often; and smile less often.
In comparison to men, women tend to assume more tense and compact body positions. They are less prone to interrupt or to attempt to stare others down. Women touch others less than men, but smile more frequently. On the other hand, females have been found to be better at interpreting nonverbal signals as well as more physically (and emotionally) expressive.
Like all stereotypes, there is some truth in these observations of sex differences. Yet
LaFrance and Vial’s 2016 analyses of multiple studies on sex difference indicated
that the differences in nonverbal behavior between the sexes becomes more
ambiguous when context, age, sex role identification, and sexual orientation are
factored in.
The physical performance of gender thus appears to be more malleable and
responsive to subtle changes in the psychological and social environment than the
stereotypes suggest. Find out more in the next blog.