Androgyny and rhetorical sensitivity: The connection of gender and communicator style

Abstract

As currently conceptualized, both gender and communicator style can be described as the product of many small behaviors that individuals enact throughout the day, as well as filters for interpreting and making sense of human behavior. This study examined whether gender can be expressed productively through communicator style. Both categorical and continuous versions of each of these variables were obtained from survey data using the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) (Bem, 1974) and the RHETSEN scale (Hart, Carlson, & Eadie, 1980). After taking into account the tendency for the diverse individuals included in this sample to respond with high levels on both masculine and feminine items, results generally showed that Rhetorically Sensitive communicators tended to be non‐differentiated in gender role, Noble Selves were more likely to be masculine, and Rhetorical Reflectors were androgynous. BSRI scores suggest that people may now accept the desirability of androgyny and flexibility in gender‐based characteristics. The need for an examination of currently held conceptualizations of gender roles is discussed.

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