Is silence more golden for women than men? Observers derogate effusive women and their quiet partners

• Published in: Sex roles Vol. 57; no. 7-8; pp. 477 - 482
• Main Authors: GUINN SELLERS, Jennifer, DILTZ WOOLSEY, Mary, SWANN, William B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Springer 01.10.2007; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Attitude Measures; Biological and medical sciences; College students; Communication; Couple and family; Evidence; Expectation; Females; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gender differences; Gender roles; Individual Differences; Inhibition; Males; Marital Relations; Marital Satisfaction; Personal relationships; Personality; Personality Measures; Predictive Validity; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Resistance (Psychology); Sex Differences; Sex Role; Sex Roles; Sexual Orientation; Social Competence; Social Desirability; Social psychology; Social role. Sex role; Social sciences; Verbal Communication; Human; Marital relation; Relationships; Language; Sex role; Social interaction; Sex; Gender roles .Verbal inhibition; Inhibition; Social .Personality; Verbal communication
• ISSN: 0360-0025; 1573-2762
• DOI: 10.1007/s11199-007-9277-2

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. Adapted from the source document.