Summary
The main point of the article is to follow the styles of interactions between males and females in the single sex and mixed groups in order to see if the gender composition of these groups is in connection with the kinds of interactions and their styles practiced within these groups.
One of the main perspectives of the author of this article is to explore group interactions critically because the society often uses stereotypes to describe interactions between men and women. The author intends to follow the interactions between the members of same and opposite sex to determine how the group composition affects group processes.
The author researches the group interactions not from the perspectives of characters and personalities, but from the perspective of relationships between sexes. This way the author intends to demonstrate that men and women choose their styles of interactions according to the sex composition of their groups, and their personal character traits play a less important role there. The study explores how social sex role standards influence the interaction styles between the members of one sex and mixed groups.
Analysis
The research method featured six groups of people, two of these groups were all male, two were all female and the rest were mixed. All the participants were asked to communicate and get to know each other. Through recording the topics of communication, individual interactions of each member, time, quality and quantity of interactions initiated and received, the researchers noticed several patterns.
First of all, in mixed groups men obtained leading roles, in all male groups the same members were active session to session, and in all female groups there was a variety of interactions as the most active women admitted that they felt uncomfortable taking up too much time. This shows that gender role standards pressure men into leadership and initiative, while women are natural sharers.
Secondly, males showed more competitive patters within the groups, while females maintained equality and tried to interact evenly through the sessions. Men can be viewed as less private individuals, and women – as more open and affectionate. These patterns can be found in real life when women choose to develop a close friendship with one or two other women, while men prefer to have less close interactions and be parts of bigger gangs.
Evaluation
The article and the research conducted by its author elaborate on the personal styles of communication people of both sexes tend to choose and the reasons why they stick to certain interactional pattern. The research shows that males are more pressured to stay active and occupy leading positions in the society and groups, while females try to interact in a more intimate way.
Besides, in mixed groups people tend to develop more one-to-one interactions, while in all male groups members try to speak to the whole groups, and in all female groups members do not select a preferred partner for communication. This contrast shows that mixed setting make people of both sexes make choices and either stick with one person of opposite sex or with one of the same sex. The article is valuable because it demonstrated intersexual communication and the factors that influence it. These factors were hard to notice before such research was conducted.