Sex and power: gender differences in computer-mediated interactions

A preponderance of psychological literature indicates gender differences in written and oral communication. This study explores a new channel of communication, that of cybertalk. As this method of discourse is not gender-salient, one might argue that sex differences in communication style would be eliminated or reduced. However, we suggest that gendered power differentials in communication style transcend the medium. Archived electronic discussions (n=701) on sex-typed topics were selected and analyzed for length, frequency of communication and discourse content (fact vs. opinion). It was hypothesized that male communicators would display power behaviors by writing longer postings, by posting more frequently, and by writing more opinionated discourse as compared to female communicators. Congruent with the first prediction, men's discourse entries consisted of a greater number of words. However, women communicated more frequently than did men, a finding opposite to the hypothesized direction. The third gendered comparison, while not reaching statistical significance, indicated a modest trend with men writing more opinionated communications in two out of the three sex-typed categories (masculine and gender-neutral). Findings suggest that cyberspace, a context where gender of communicators is not salient, remains a male-dominated atmosphere, where gender differentiation and power displays in communication persist, similar to other communication modes. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.