Surprise! Change Your Gender Communication Style For More Impact

How changing the gender style of an apology increases effectiveness

There is so much to unravel in your headline today. Where to begin? How about what do you mean by gender communication styles?

This research by Beth Polin et al. of the University of Arizona wanted to find out what made an effective apology in the workplace. Sometimes there’s a quite a lot at stake (reputation, pride) and it is therefore a tricky subject for some people.

The researchers identified language definitions based on previous research into what constitutes masculine or feminine communication.

Masculine language tends to be have more agency, is more assertive, is more confident and self-assured. On the other hand feminine language is seen as warmer, more communal, and nurturing.

Ok and what is with apologising then?

The researcher ran a series of four studies: this ranged from studying apologies of celebrities on twitter (now “X”) to structured lab studies when respondents had to rate and respond to apologies from fictional characters in different roles such as an accountant or a nurse.