Gender Differences and Persuasion: The Times, They Aren't a Changin'Although women's roles have changed drastically, particularly within the past 40 years, women "are perceived negatively when they try to be direct, assertive, and forceful." Unfortunately, this forces women to have to work harder then men in order to be taken seriously. As a male, gender differences in persuasion are an important consideration that I should take into account in the future when dealing with women, both on a personal and a professional level.In dealing with my own personal relationships with women, I have always considered myself to be open t ...view middle of the document...
If I were to be placed in the same situation with a female friend, I would probably not make fun of her, but instead try to convince her that my action movie has an underlying message of love. From studying this concept, one can clearly see that even in today's world, we still place women into gender-specified roles in society.Research has found that, contrary to popular beliefs, women are still, "perceived negatively when they try to be direct, assertive and forceful." This is most evident when viewing the research found in the Reinforcement Expectancy Theory, which focuses on the persuasiveness of female doctors versus male doctors. This study has found that, "female doctors can increase compliance by using only positive strategies." As a male, it is imperative that I am aware of this, in order to advise female co-workers into making useful, persuasive decisions.While it may seem as though a woman's role in persuasion may never change, there is some good news, " 'For the Times They are a Changin'." In the early 1970's researchers found that women were more easily persuaded then men. Today, researchers have gone back through past findings, only to learn that earlier test were biased. In fact, the line between men and women, and the persuadability of each, is quite marginal. The lines are becoming more and more blurred with each and every step we all take. Just as social inequality has come leaps and bounds since the 1960's, gender inequality is making similar strides.
