Do Women Communicate Better Than Men?

In past blogs we’ve talked about some of the similarities and differences between groups of people on their Style and Versatility. One finding we noticed is that many women are Amiable and Expressive (60% combined), while more men tend to be Analytical and Driving (57% combined).

So this begs the question, since many women are more comfortable showing their emotions, does this make them more effective communicators? After all, we tend to describe impassioned leaders as more charismatic communicators than leaders who are less emotional in their behavior.

So at the risk of fanning the flames for a new gender war, we decided to stop pondering and let the data speak for itself. To answer our question we analyzed people’s Feedback profiles. Feedback is the component of Versatility that indicates how effectively a person communicates in one-on-one situations.

What we found is that women have higher Feedback skills than men. The difference is not overwhelming, but it is noticeable. I’m sure many of you, especially the women, are saying, “Duh, I could’ve told you that!” But it’s always nice when hard data confirms our impressions.

So what does this mean for how we communicate with others in our daily lives? Realistically, it means that we still have to approach one another as individuals, and pay attention to one another’s Styles more so than our genders. Like all statistics, the difference in Feedback between men and women is at a group level, and interpersonal skills are, well, interpersonal. So all of us, regardless of our chromosomes, should pay attention to our communication skills and keep working to improve.

By Casey M., Tracom Group