Running Head: Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in
Taiwan's Offices
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
Submitted by
Michael Tang
1101100083
Submitted to
Dr. Aiden Yeh
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages
May, 20, 2014
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
1
Abstract
Today, more and more women in the world have occupations. As the sex ratio in
workplaces became balanced, more conflicts and misunderstandings between male
and female employees would happen due to gender differences in communication
styles. To prevent and solve this kind of problems, understanding the communication
styles and differences between men and women has never been more relevant.
However, there are fewer studies on gender’s communication styles in Taiwan than
foreign countries. Therefore, this research investigates how men and women
communicate in Taiwan’s offices. A survey among 70 employees who worked in
Taiwan’s offices was conducted and the previous foreign researches and the
genderlect theory were used to find out the communication styles between men and
women in Taiwan’s offices. The collected data were analyzed by cross-tabulations,
T-test, correlation, and Likert Scales. As a result, the findings indicated that men used
report talk and spoke to seek status and solutions. In contrast, women used rapport
talk and spoke to seek connections with others. Nevertheless, the results also pointed
out that the female employees in Taiwan are more confident in workplaces. They
could speak out their opinions more voluntarily and convince people who have
different ideas in business conversations.
Keywords: communication styles, how men and women communicate, differences
between genders
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ………………………………… …………………………… . 3
Literature Review ………………………………………………………………. 4
Theoretical Framework ………………………………………………… .5
Methodology ……………………………………………………………… . 7
Results & Analysis .… … … … … … … … … . … … … … … … … … … … … … … ..10
Discussion……………………………………………………………… ...14
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..17
R e f e re n c e s … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … . . … … … … … … … … … . 1 9
Appendix
Cover Letter …………………………………………………………20
Questionnaire……….……………………………………………21
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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Introduction
Since the awakening of feminist consciousness, many women started to join the
businesses in the world. According to the statistic from Directorate-General of Budget,
Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS, 2013), there were about 4,777,000 women who
had jobs last year in Taiwan. Moreover, the BBC News (2013) indicated that the sex
ratio in Taiwan is 100.09, and the ratio is falling down continually. Therefore, we can
assume that the number of women in Taiwan is growing, and more women will have
jobs in the future.
With the phenomenon that more and more women join the industry, various
work-related problems can arise such as communication difficulty and sexual
harassment. To solve and prevent such problems, understanding the differences
between male and female is very important, especially the communication style. In fact,
the communication styles between men and women have become the theme of many
best-selling books on gender differences, such as “Work with Me: The 8 Blind Spots
Between Men and Women in Business” by Barbara Annis and John Gray (2013), and
“You Just Don’t’ Understand: Women and Men in Conversation” by Deborah Tannen
(1990).
In the book “You Just Don’t’ Understand: Women and Men in Conversation”,
Tannen (1990) thought that men and women are speaking different dialects, and
brought up the genderlect theory. The goal of genderlect theory is to find out how men
and women communicate differently, and bridge the gap between the two
communication styles. Therefore, the genderlect theory is the best theoretical
framework of this research.
The studies mentioned above only focused on the communication styles between
men and women, especially in the workplace or office. However, little research has
been done on workplace communication in Taiwanese context. In order to find out the
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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differences of communication styles between men and women, the research target
would be the employees of offices in Taiwan. Those target employees would be asked
to do the online survey to obtain the data. By analyzing the collected data, it would
show how men and women communicate in office.
The contribution of this research would be very helpful to the workplace,
especially in Taiwan. Indeed, as Tannen (1994) mentioned in her book “ Talking from
9to 5: How Women’s and Men’s Conversational Styles Affect Who Gets Heard, Who
Credit, and What Gets Done at Work”, if people start to understand and accept the
communication styles of others, the conflicts between people can be reduced. Also, the
study would create a better environment where people can do their best work, and both
company and individual would derive benefits.
Literature Review
Since there are more and more women working in the offices of companies, the
conflicts and misunderstandings between male and female employees have become an
important issue in recent years. To solve the problem, people started to show concern
about the differences of communication styles between men and women. In fact, the
research of gender differences in communication had already started in 1970s as a
sub-field of language and society studies (Qin, 2012). However, there were only few
researches which related to communication styles between sexes in Taiwan. Therefore,
the references of this research paper were mainly from foreign countries.
In the study of Merchant (2012), she stated that “Gender differences in
communication styles and influence tactics have created stereotypical gender roles that
have affected the behaviors of both men and women in the workplace.” (p.16). She also
pointed out that the biggest difference of communication styles between men and
women is they have different views on the purpose of conversations.
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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Genderlect Theory
Tannen (1990) first pointed out the idea that men and women are speaking
different dialects in her book “You Just Don’t Understand”. This idea had also
extended to the theory – genderlect theory to identify the differences between sexes,
and encourage people to acknowledge and accept the language of men and women and
achieve mutual respect and understanding. In the genderlect theory, Tannen (1990)
concluded that the communication style of men is report-talk and instrumental
approach. In contrast, the communication style of women is rapport-talk and relational
approach.
Table 1: List of Genderlect
Men
Women
Purpose of Communicating
To seek status
To seek connection
Style of Communicating
Report talk
Rapport talk
Language
Talk to get things done
Talk to interact with others
(instrumental approach)
(relational approach)
Women’s Communication Style
Women use communication as a tool to enhance the social networks with others
and create relationships (Wood, 2011). Moreover, Tannen (1990) stated that women’s
purpose of conversation is to create an intimate connection with others. To gain the
rapport with others, they would talk about people, relationships, or topical problems
and issues which they are facing (Gray, 1992). Researchers also found out that women
tend to be more expressive and polite than men in conversation, especially in situations
of conflict (Basow & Rubenfield, 2003). Women also interrupt less than men in the
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
6
conversation. However, this phenomenon was hypothesized by Thorne and Henley
(1975) that women perceived their social status is lower than men, which could be due
to the stereotype or social norms.
Men’s Communication Style
On the other hand, men use language as a tool to get tangible result and exert
dominance (Wood, 2011). The research from Tannen (1990) indicated that men see
conversations as a way to maintain their social status and establish dominance. She also
thought that a conversation between people is more like a negotiation to men. Therefore,
men have to get the upper hand in order to protect themselves. Tannen (1994) also
mentioned in the book that men seldom ask strangers or not familiar people for help
because of their self-esteem. Moreover, they are more assertive than women, and tend
to be specific, logical, and powerful (Basow & Rubenfield, 2003). At the same time,
Basow and Rubenfield (2003) also found out that men are more likely to offer solutions
to problems in order to prevent further discussions. Another founding from the previous
studies is that men are more independent and unemotional in conversations (Eagly,
1987).
The research in gender differences of communication styles had come to the
conclusion that women are more cooperative, sensitive, and concern about the feelings
and relationships with others (Mason, 1994). Lakoff (1973) also claimed that women
would use less powerful words and terms, and speak politely in conversations. In
addition, the process of communication is extremely valuable for women because it is
related to the relationships with people (Statham, 1987). In contrast, men tend to be
assertive, specific, independent, unemotional, and logical, and use conversations as a
tool to obtain dominance and tangible results (Eagly, 1987; Tannen, 1990; Basow &
Rubenfield, 2003; Wood, 2011).
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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Methodology
Research Questions
The research questions in this paper are:
RQ1: How do men and women communicate in Taiwan’s offices?
RQ2: What are the differences between their communication styles?
Respondents
In order to do the research, the target respondents of this study were people who
worked in different companies in Taiwan. Figure 1 shows that in the total number of
70 respondents, 57% were female and 43% were male.
Figure 1: Gender of respondents
The ages of the respondents were generally from 21 to over 40 years old. However,
Figure 2 indicates that most of the respondents were aged between 21 to 30 years old
(75%).
Figure 2: Age of respondents
In Figure 3, the education backgrounds of respondents mostly hold a bachelor’s
degree (63%), and only 1% of respondents had doctorate degree.
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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Figure 3: Education of respondents
From Figure 4, it can be seen that most of the respondents worked at the service
industry (34%) and other industry (46%). 14% of respondents worked at international
trade industry, and only few respondents worked at insurance company (2%),
advertising company (1%), and financial industry (3%).
Figure 4: Work of respondents
For the sex ratio of workplaces, Figure 5 indicates that 59% of respondents
worked at the place where females are in the majority. On the other hand, 41% of
respondents worked with more males.
Figure 5: Sex ratio of respondents’ workplace
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
9
All of the participants were recruited via Facebook.com, telephone, or email
correspondence from February 2014 to March 2014.
Materials
In order to understand how participants communicate with the opposite sex and
their communication styles, the questionnaire was used to collect data. The participants
were required to finish the online survey with 22 questions. The online survey tool was
mySurvey, and the web link was given to the participants from the end of February to
March in 2014. The collected data were analyzed in order to compare with the
genderlect categories mentioned in the literature review.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire (see Appendix 2) was divided into three parts. The first part is
the background information about participants, which included gender, age, education,
and the working type. The second part is the communication style. This part
comprehended how participants communicating with people and understood their own
habitus. The third part is communication in the workplaces or offices. In this part, the
participants were required to answer seven questions and situations which usually
happened in the workplaces or offices. The types of survey questions included
multiple-choice and Likert Scales. As for the statistical measurements which used in
this paper were cross-tabulations, T-test, correlation, and Likert Scales.
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
10
Results
In the first part of the results, it mainly presents the communication styles and
habitus between men and women when working or in usual situation.
From Figure 6, it can be seen that most of the male (35.7%) and female (42.9%)
respondents would prefer to be straight to the point and make their opinions clearly
when talking business with others.
Figure 6: Gender*Straight to the point Cross-tab
總和
gender
male
point
female
yes
35.7%
42.9%
78.6%
no
7.1%
14.3%
21.4%
42.9%
57.1%
100.0%
總和
The results in Figure 7 show that more than half of the respondents (51.4%) could
share their opinions to other people directly in business conversations. On the other
hand, some of the respondents (48.6%) would be hesitate when sharing their own
opinions with people in business conversations, especially females (31.4%).
Figure 7: Gender*Sharing Opinion Cross-tab
總和
shareopinion
directly
hesitate
male
25.7%
17.1%
42.9%
female
25.7%
31.4%
57.1%
51.4%
48.6%
100%
gender
總和
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
11
However, Figure 8 indicates that 82.9% of respondents would try to convince
people when they had disagreements in business conversations. In other words, most of
the respondents would insist on the idea which they thought better. Comparing to the
finding in Figure 7, it can be seen that people might not share their opinions easily in
business conversations, but would try to convince others to defend their thoughts.
Figure 8: Gender*Disagreement Cross-tab
總和
disagreewithyou
convince
accept
male
37.1%
5.7%
42.9%
female
45.7%
11.4%
57.1%
82.9%
17.1%
100%
gender
總和
As shown in Figure 9, most of the male (31.4%) and female (37.1%) respondents
would give compliments to both same and opposite-gender in workplace. Figure 9 also
shows that none of the male respondents would give compliments to same-gender. In
contrast, some of the female respondents (14.3%) would only give compliments to
same-gender.
Figure 9: Gender*Giving Compliments Cross-tab
總和
givecompliments
same-gender
male
opposite-gender
0
11.4%
14.3%
5.7%
14.3%
17.1%
both
31.4%
42.9%
gender
female
總和
37.1%
68.6%
57.1%
100%
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
12
Figure 10 points out the fact that most of the respondents (68.6%) would ask
people who are not familiar with for help voluntarily when having a difficulty on
business. The rest of the respondents (31.4%) would prefer not to ask for help.
Figure 10: Gender*Asking for help Cross-tab
總和
askforhelp
yes
no
male
27.1%
15.7%
42.9%
female
41.4%
15.7%
57.1%
68.6%
31.4%
100%
gender
總和
In Figure 11, it indicates that 75.7% of respondents would offer assistance to
others voluntarily in a business conversation. On the other hand, some male (12.9%)
and female (11.4%) respondents would not offer assistance to others voluntarily.
Figure 11: Gender*Offer assistance Cross-tab
總和
assistance
yes
male
gender
no
30%
12.9%
42.9%
45.7%
11.4%
57.1%
75.7%
24.3%
100%
femal
e
總和
The second part of the results mainly shows the behaviors of men and women in a
workplace or an office.
The results in Figure 12 indicate that 30% of respondents would talk about their
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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own family and relationships in the workplace or office. In contrast, 48.6% of
respondents would talk about neither their family nor relationships. In other words,
most of the respondents (78.6%) would or would not share with people about their
family and relationships at the same time.
Figure 12: Talking about family*Talking about relationship Cross-tab
總和
talkaboutrelation
yes
talkaboutfamily
yes
no
總和
no
30%
21.4%
51.4%
0
48.6%
48.6%
30%
70%
100%
Table 2 shows that, most of the respondents could usually (47.1%) or sometimes
(50%) understand and accept when the office is pronouncing new policy. When in an
interpersonal relationship conversation, 62.9% of respondents could usually understand
its connection. In contrast, only 1.4% of respondents could seldom understand.
However, when talking about the financial issues in the workplace, 48.6% and 12.9%
of respondents could sometimes and seldom understand. Only 38.6% of respondents
could usually understand the financial issues, which indicates that most the respondents
were weak in this kind of situation. Lastly, there are 88.6% of respondents could handle
their business works while understanding what others are talking about.
Table 2: Likert Scale of understanding four situations in a workplace
Usually
Sometimes
Seldom
Total
New policy
47.1%
50%
2.9%
100%
Interpersonal relationship
62.9%
35.7%
1.4%
100%
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
14
Financial issues
38.6%
48.6%
12.9%
100%
Talking when working
40%
48.6%
11.4%
100%
In Table 3, it can be seen that most of the male (86.6%) and female respondents
(90%) could usually or sometimes understand the connection in an interpersonal
relationship conversation. At the same time, they could also understand what others are
talking about while operating business works. The results also indicate that female
respondents could easily focus on more than one thing at the same time, which is better
than male respondents.
Table 3: Interpersonal relationship*Talking while working*Gender Cross-tab
gender
usually
male
interpersonalrelationship
總和
seldom
26.7%
20%
6.7%
53.3%
sometimes
16.7%
23.3%
6.7%
46.7%
0
0
0
0
43.3%
43.3%
13.3%
100%
37.5%
30%
2.5%
70%
sometimes
0
22.5%
5%
27.5%
seldom
0
0
2.5%
2.5%
37.5%
52.5%
10%
100%
總和
interpersonalrelationship
sometimes
usually
seldom
female
總和
talkingwhenworking
usually
Discussion
According to the findings from Deborah Tannen (1990, 1994) and other
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
15
researchers (Wood 2011, Gray 1992, Basow & Rubenfield 2003), the communicating
style of men is report talk while women’s is rapport talk. Men would usually talk to
seek status; they speak directly and clearly, and often try to offer possible solutions to
any question or problem. On the other hand, women would talk to create relationship
with others. They would prefer to listen rather than speak out their ideas or thoughts.
Moreover, they would usually speak tactfully and indirectly to the point to avoid
arguments.
The results of men’s communication style were most similar to previous
researches. Nevertheless, Table 3 points out that men would ask people who they are
not familiar with for help when they had problems or difficulties on works. This fact
indicates that men can put down their self-esteem and is more flexible than before.
Table 3: Ask people who you are not familiar with for help T-test
Mean(SD)
Gender
Male
1.37(.490)
Female
1.28(.452)
t
P
.810
.127
As for the findings of women’s communication style in this paper show that there
were some differences between other foreign researches. First, the result indicates that
42.9% of female respondents could make their comments or observations straightly and
clearly, which is different from the findings of Western researchers. Moreover, 45.7%
of female respondents would try to convince others when they have disagreements or
opposite ideas. In other words, many female employees in Taiwan’s offices could easily
speak out and clarify their ideas, and convince others nowadays. Thus, this finding
could be significant because it is different from the western studies.
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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However, in some business talks, 31.4% of female respondents would be hesitated
to share their own opinions, which is match to the previous findings. To conclude the
findings about women’s communication style, although most of the women would
hesitate to share their own opinions in business conversations (Figure 7), they still
could speak directly to the point and clarify it, or convince others firmly. In addition,
Figure 13 indicates that a person could easily share his or her opinions do not mean he
or she could convince others easily. Therefore, this finding might be significant to the
relationship between men and women in the offices.
Figure 13: Share opinion*Disagree with you Correlation
相關係數
顯著性 (雙尾)
shareopinion
shareopinion
disagreewithyou
1.000
.089
.
.465
70
70
Spearman's rho 係
個數
數
相關係數
.089
1.000
顯著性 (雙尾)
.465
.
70
70
disagreewithyou
個數
P>0.05, R=0.089
Limitation and Further Discussion
The limitation of this research is that the research period was limited by the
semester. Also, the sample of this research was not enough, which might affect the
accuracy of results. Moreover, there were only few studies in Taiwan which would
provide sample references for this study. Therefore, the references used in the paper
were mostly from foreign countries, especially Western. Another difficulty is that the
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
17
collected data of questionnaire could not exactly show the communication styles and
the differences between men and women in Taiwan’s offices. As a result, the
observation might be more suitable for this kind of research.
Because of the lack of research, I suggest that people who were professional in this
field should corporate with large-size companies to do the research. With great
designed and long-term observation, the findings would be very valuable and practical.
Conclusion
In order to let office employees understand the communication styles of opposite
sex to reduce conflicts and fights. This study invited 70 respondents randomly to do the
questionnaire and test how their communication styles were. Based on the survey
results, men’s communication style was similar to the previous research from Basow &
Rubenfield (2003) and Tannen (1990, 1994). However, the result indicated that women
are more confident to share their opinions and insist on their ideas firmly, which were
different from the hypothesis of foreign researchers.
Nowadays, women are more confident in workplaces. In most of the situation,
they could share their opinions and straight through the main points without talking in
circles. Moreover, when someone has disagreements with female employees’ opinions
or ideas, they would also try to convince people. These factors points out that women‘s
status are higher than before, which they are more voluntarily to make a statement.
Thus, when working with female employees in a workplace or an office, people should
be aware of those factors to avoid verbal conflicts.
In business and management field of Taiwan, the findings of this research must be
significant. The research not only provides the communication styles that Taiwanese
office employees have, but also can reduce the physical or verbal conflicts which do
happen in offices. Therefore, the companies in Taiwan should focus more on this kind
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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of research, in order to improve the condition of offices or workplaces in Taiwan and
raise the competitiveness with other countries.
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
19
References
Basow, S. A., & Rubenfeld, K. (2003). "Troubles Talk": Effects of Gender and
Gender-Typing. Sex Roles, 48(3-4), 183-187.
Cuban, S. (2009). "Talking was a great experience": Destabilising gendered
communication in the workplace. International Review of Education, 55(5-6),
579-596.
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). (2013). Accounts
of women laboring. Retrieved from Directorate General of Budget,
Accounting and Statistics: http://goo.gl/UC3I4t
Eagly, A. H. (1987). Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social-role Interpretation.
Hillsdale: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Gray, J. (1992). Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: a Practical Guide for
Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in a Relationship. New
York: HarperCollins.
Lakoff, R. (1973). Language and Woman's Place. Language in Society, 2, 45-80.
Mason, E. S. (1995). Gender Differences in Job Satisfaction. The Journal of Social
Psychology, 135(2), 143-151.
Merchant, K. (2012). How Men And Women Differ: Gender Differencesin in
Communication Styles, Influence Tactics, and Leadership Styles. CMC Senior
Theses.
Statham, A. (1987). The Gender Model Revisited: Differences in the Management
Styles of Men and Women. Sex Roles, 16(7-8), 409-430.
Tannen, D. (1990). You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation.
New York: Ballantine Books.
Tannen, D. (1994). Talking from 9 to5: How Women's and Men's Conversational
Styles Affect Who Gets Heard, Who Credit, and What Gets Done at Work.
William Morrow Paperbacks.
Thorne, B., & Henley, N. (1975). Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance.
Newbury House Publishers.
Wood, J. T. (2011). Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, & Culture (10 ed.).
Cengage Learning.
Lin, N, S. (2013). The sex ratio of Taiwanese publication structure. Retrieved from
BBC 中文網: http://goo.gl/TyJ9Qj
Qin, C, H. (2012). Gender Differences in Communication among Undergraduates
Students. Overseas English(6).
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
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Appendix 1: Cover Letter
Date:2014/2/26
Dear Participant:
My name is Michael Tang and I am a college student at Wenzao Ursuline University
of Languages. For my research paper in Research Writing course, I am examining the
communication styles and differences between men and women in Taiwan’s offices.
Because you are an employer of an office, I am inviting you to participate in this
research study by completing the attached survey.
The following questionnaire will require approximately 3-5 minutes to complete.
There is no compensation for responding nor is there any known risk. In order to
ensure that all information will remain confidential, please do not include your name.
Copies of the project will be provided to my Research Writing instructor. If you
choose to participate in this study, please answer all questions as honestly as possible
and return the completed questionnaires promptly on line. Participation is strictly
voluntary and you may refuse to participate at any time.
Thank you for taking the time to assist me in my educational endeavors. The data
collected will provide useful information regarding different communication styles
between men and women. If you would like a summary copy of this study please do
not hesitate to contact me. Completion and return of the questionnaire will indicate
your willingness to participate in this study. If you require additional information or
have questions, please contact me at the number listed below.
If you are not satisfied with the manner in which this study is being conducted, you
may report (anonymously if you so choose) any complaints to The English
Department, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, 高雄市三民區民族一路
900 號, TEL：+886-7-342-6031; FAX：+886-7-342-7942.
Sincerely,
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
21
Michael Tang
0988370002
staralex123@hotmail.com
Aiden Yeh, Ph.D.
Asst Professor
93086@mail.wzu.edu.tw
Appendix 2: Questionnaire
(一) 基本資料
(1) Personal Background
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. 性別 Gender:
□ 男 Male □ 女 Female
2.
年齡 Age:
□ 21-25
□ 26-30
□ 31-35
□ 36-40
□ 40+
3.
教育程度 Education:
□ 高中 High School
□ 五專 5-Year College
□ 大學 Bachelor
□ 碩士 Master
□ 博士 Doctor
4.
工作類別 Type of Work
□ 貿易 International Trade Industry
□ 保險 Insurance Company
□
□
□
□
廣告 Advertising Company
金融 Financial Industry
服務 Service Industry
其他 Other
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
5.
22
工作環境的男女比例 Sex ratio of workplace
□ 男性多於女性 More male □ 女性多於男性 More female
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(二) 溝通習性 (單選題)
(2) Communication Style (Multiple choice items)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. 談論公事時，您會儘快結束談話還是願意持續深入的討論？
Would you prefer to close a business conversation as soon as possible or be
willing to discuss more?
□ 僅快結束話題 Close as soon as possible □ 持續深入討論 Discuss more
2.
談論公事時，您的說話聲調通常較偏向？
What kinds of voice are you using the most in a business conversation?
□ 大聲急促的聲調 Loudness and rapid of voice
□ 溫和緩慢的聲調 Softness and slowness of voice
3.
談論公事時，您是有話直說且會直接講重點的人嗎？
Are you a straightforward person that you usually make your points clearly in a
business conversation?
□ 是 Yes □ 不是 No
4.
若在談論公事時遇到想表達自己意見的狀況，您通常會直接的表達自己的想
法還是猶豫要不要開口呢？
Would you usually share your opinions directly or hesitantly when in a business
conversation?
□ 直接表達自己的想法 Try to share your opinions directly
□ 猶豫要不要開口 Beat about the bush
5.
您經常在一般閒聊的談話中嘲弄、揶揄對方嗎？
Would you usually mock at people in a free chat conversation?
□ 是 Yes □ 否 No
6.
談論公事時，當對方提出與您相反的想法、而您真的認為自己的想法較好
時，您通常會怎麼做？
What would you usually do when people disagree with you in a business
conversation but you sincerely think your idea is better?
□ 嘗試禮貌地說服他/她 Try to convince him/her firmly
□ 接受對方的想法以避免衝突 Accept his/her opinion to avoid conflict
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
7.
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在工作場所中，您較常稱讚同性還是異性同事？
In your office/workplace, who do you usually give compliments to?
□ 同性 Same-gender □ 異性 Opposite-gender □ 都有 Both
8.
您喜歡經常被人稱讚嗎？
Would you like to be praised regularly?
□ 喜歡 Like □ 還好 So-so □ 不喜歡 Unlike
9.
當處理公事遇到問題時，您會主動向不熟識的人尋求協助嗎？
Would you ask people who you are not familiar with for help voluntarily when
having a difficulty on business?
□ 會 Yes □ 不會 No
10. 當您在談論公事時，通常會主動詢問對方是否需要自己的協助嗎?
Would you offer assistance voluntarily in a business conversation?
□ 會 Yes □ 不會 No
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(三) 當在工作場合或辦公室時… (單選題)
(3) When talking in a workplace/office… (Multiple choice items)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.
您是否會在工作場合與同事談論自己的家庭生活?
Would you talk about your family in your office?
□ 會 Yes □ 不會 No
2.
您是否會在工作場合與同事談論自己的感情生活?
Would you talk about your love-relationship in your office?
□ 會 Yes □ 不會 No
3.
您是否會在工作場合與同事談論運動、電影、音樂等個人休閒娛樂?
Would you talk about your personal entertainment in your office, such as sports,
movies or music?
□ 會 Yes □ 不會 No
Communication and Gender: How Men and Women Communicate in Taiwan's Offices
4.
公司頒布新的規定或政策時，您可以快速的理解並接受。
You can easily understand and accept when the office is pronouncing new
policy.
□ 通常可以 Usually □ 有時可以 Sometimes □ 通常不行 Seldom
5.
若談論到他人的人際關係，您可以很快的理解其中角色的關聯。
You can easily understand the connection in an interpersonal relationship
conversation.
□ 通常可以 Usually □ 有時可以 Sometimes □ 通常不行 Seldom
6.
討論財務方面的話題時，您可以快速的理解。
You can easily understand when discussing financial issues in the office.
□ 通常可以 Usually □ 有時可以 Sometimes □ 通常不行 Seldom
7.
當他人在跟您說話時，您可以同時處理其他公事且依然可以理解對方的
話題。
You can perfectly operate your business work while understanding what others
are talking about.
□ 通常可以 Usually □ 有時可以 Sometimes □ 通常不行 Seldom
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