ABSTRACT
The study of how sex differences might affect the way that people communicate presents a difficult research undertaking. This chapter represents a wide array of research concerning sex differences and similarities in communication behavior. It discusses an alternative perspective to the different cultures perspective-the skill deficit or skill specialization account-which appears capable of explaining the results of their research. The authors review literature on the biological and socialization bases for sex differences in encoding and decoding socioemotional communication and for sex differences in individuals' communicative responses to emotion (i.e., the specific types of messages that people use to communicate or avoid communicating various emotional states to others). Overall, the authors report more similarities than differences between men and women and a few significant (albeit small) sex differences. In brief, the chapters represent the latest research on sex differences (and similarities) in communication.
