Gender and Cultural Differences in Communication - Essay Example

Gender and Cultural Differences in Communication It is difficult to master good communication, which can causeconfusion and conflict in any situation. Communication gaps come about when the message is either misunderstood or is not transmitted, which results from differences in communication styles among individuals. In most forms of communication, the sender in encoded form transmits a message, which is received on the other end by the receiver in the form of a written, verbal or non-verbal channel or medium.

The receiver then decodes and translates the message. In order for the process to be effective, both must understand the code. A number of factors including culture, gender, time and the situation can affect good communication. The assertion that communication can and is affected by gender has been widely acknowledged by most people today. Differences in communication for both genders could pose a problem for interpersonal interactions, which could lead to decreased productivity at the workplace, stress, resentment and intolerance.

This is vital in today’s world, especially business organizations, and; therefore, an examination of the differences acts as the first step towards improvement of communication. Verbal and non-verbal communication differs in their ambiguity and the translation of these forms of communication differs across cultures and gender. This paper is a discussion on gender and cultural differences in communication. Verbal vs. Nonverbal Communication Verbal communication is best used to convey particular information and is especially suited for communication via technology and over longer distances (Wood 54).

Non-verbal communication, on the other hand, is immediate compared to the former. This causes its meaning to be more ambiguous, despite the fact that various non-verbal communication forms, for example, the use of eyes and hand gestures, have the ability to convey the emotions with more effectiveness than verbal communication can. Various technological communication media such as film can also convey many forms of non-verbal communication. Verbal Gender and Cultural Differences During verbal communication, men will normally tend to give solutions, whereas women will tend to focus more on empathy (Wood 70).

This mirrors the fact that women are more oriented towards solidifying relationships while men in most occasions are more goal-oriented. Differences in communication across the gender divide also extend to non-verbal communication. Various gestures may be decoded one way by a man and differently by a woman. Persons from various cultures also differ in their manner of expression, even when the words and their literal meanings are translated to the listener’s native language. In some cultures, the word “yes” could really mean “maybe” while in another culture, “yes” could be considered a commitment that is binding.

Non-Verbal Gender and Cultural Differences Women are usually better at the interpretation of non-verbal means of communication compared to men (Wood 74). Men also tend to be less accomplished when it comes to sending non-verbal and subtle messages. Differences in culture, in non-verbal means of communication, may create misunderstandings. For example, nodding of one’s head in North America means consent while the same action in Japan means that the receiver is listening. Sometimes, non-verbal and verbal communications tend to be inconsistent an even contradictory when received together.

Men tend to be poor at the detection of these inconsistencies compared to women, with women being better body language experts. When there is an inconsistency between the two, the receiver needs to choose which means to trust. Works Cited Wood, Julia. Interpersonal communication : everyday encounters. Boston: Wadsworth , 2012. Print.