Male/Female Gaze in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Dyads Gender-Linked Differences and Mutual Influence

  1. ANTHONY MULAC1,
  2. LISA B. STUDLEY2,
  3. JOHN M. WIEMANN3,
  4. JAMES J. BRADAC4

Article first published online: 17 MAR 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1987.tb00108.x

Issue

Human Communication Research

Human Communication Research

Volume 13, Issue 3, pages 323–343, March 1987

Additional Information

How to Cite

MULAC, A., STUDLEY, L. B., WIEMANN, J. M. and BRADAC, J. J. (1987), Male/Female Gaze in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Dyads Gender-Linked Differences and Mutual Influence. Human Communication Research, 13: 323–343. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.1987.tb00108.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Anthony Mulac (Ph.D. University of Michigan, 1969) is a professor of communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.

  2. 2

    Lisa B. Studley (M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1984) is an assistant professor of communication at Westmont College, Montecito, CA.

  3. 3

    John M. Wiemann (Ph.D. Purdue University, 1975) is an associate professor of communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.

  4. 4

    James J. Bradac (Ph.D., Northwestern University, 1970) is a professor of communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, CA. An earlier version of this article, under the title “Gaze Behavior of Male and Female Interactants in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Dyads: A Repeated Measures Test of Gender-Linked Communication Differences and Mutual Influence,” was presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Honolulu, HI, May 1985. The authors wish to thank Lawrence J. Hubert, Sreenivasa R. Jammalamadaka, and Lyn R. Whitaker for their assistance in statistical modeling, as well as Torborg L. Lundell and Richard L. Street, Jr., for their comments on the manuscript.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 17 MAR 2006
  2. Article first published online: 17 MAR 2006

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

Get PDF (1167K)

In this study, 108 university students (54 men and 54 women) were each videotaped in two 8-minute problem-solving dyadic interactions: (1) same-sex, and (2) mixed-sex. Trained observers coded the interactions for simultaneous, moment-to-moment gaze and talk behavior of both interactants. MANOVA results for three dyad types (male/male, female/female, and male/female) measured on 10 dyad gaze/talk variables showed that F/F dyads exhibited more mutual gaze/mutual talk and mutual gaze/mutual silence than either M/M or M/F dyads. F/F dyads exhibited less one gazes/same talks and mutual avert/one talks than either M/M or M/F dyads. No differences were found between M/M and M/F dyads on any variable. Analyses of individual change scores from same-sex to mixed-sex dyads indicated that the women in the M/F dyads converged to the male behavior in that dyad condition, whereas the men remained unchanged. The results are discussed in terms of speech accommodation theory.

Get PDF (1167K)