seems independent of observer's sex

 

Poultney, VT, USA. Silence may be more golden for women. A new study found that couples were judged to be less likeable when the woman was more verbally assertive. "In couples in which the woman is more verbally assertive, and the man more submissive, the relationship tends to suffer," says Dr. Jennifer Sellers, assistant professor of psychology at Green Mountain College.

 

Study results appear in the journal Sex Roles,

 

"… we wanted to test the notion that this phenomenon emerges because gender role expectations lead people to expect men to verbally dominate women." 

 

"We reasoned because men are expected to be in a position of power over women, couples in which the woman is verbally dominating the man would be rated more harshly than couples that adhere to the traditional role," she explains.

 

In the study, 95 students (45 men and 50 women) watched four videos of married couples describing or having a conflict.

"Participants in our research were more critical when the female partner was dominating," says Sellers. "They didn't like the couple. The man was seen as less competent. But when the roles were switched, having the exact same conversation, participants reported that they liked the couple, that they would be friends with that couple."

 

The findings were especially troubling as both men and women gave negative ratings to gender role violators equally, says Sellers. "It's disheartening.

 

Gender roles often influence how we see events without our realizing it," she says. "I'm sure if you'd asked the participants they'd deny that they would judge couples about this. No one wants to think they're guilty of it, but we are."

 

For the couples — whom research suggests are already more likely to struggle in their relationship — the outside pressure creates additional strain.

 

"When things are going wrong, these couples may get less help from their friends or family," she says. "They lack the supportiveness of the people who would normally help them." 

 

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Is Silence More Golden for Women than Men? Observers Derogate Effusive Women and their Quiet Partners. Jennifer Guinn Sellers, Mary Diltz Woolsey and William B. Swann Jr. Sex Roles. Issue Volume 57, Numbers 7-8 / October, 2007, pages 477-482. ISSN 0360-0025 (Print) 1573-2762 (Online). DOI 10.1007/s11199-007-9277-2.

 

Abstract. Couples in which the woman is more verbally disinhibited than the man (man-more-inhibited couples) report lower satisfaction than couples in which the man is more verbally disinhibited (woman-more-inhibited couples). A violation of traditional gender roles is hypothesized to underlie this phenomenon. It was predicted that members of man-more-inhibited couples would be rated less likeable than woman-more-inhibited couples, and disinhibited men would be rated more competent than other males and females. To test these hypotheses, 95 undergraduate participants from a southwestern US university viewed a videotaped conflict between a man-more-inhibited or woman-more-inhibited couple. As predicted, members of man-more-inhibited couples were rated less likeable than members of woman-more-inhibited couples and disinhibited husbands were rated more competent than all other targets.

 

 

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