Gender specifics of communication of adolescents

Abstract

The intimate and personal side of communication becomes the leading activity in adolescence. This makes the gender aspect of communication interesting, as it forms in an adolescent a segment of identity that reflects the norms, values and behavioral patterns that society attributes to a man and a woman. The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of communication in male and female adolescents. The study researches and compares the features of interpersonal communication and its interrelationships in male and female adolescents and makes recommendations on psychological prevention of communication difficulties in adolescents taking into account their gender. The respondents of the empirical study were 13 female adolescents and 11 male adolescents. The average age of respondents was 13 years. The following methods were used: Personal Aggressiveness and Conflict (E.P. Ilyin, P.A. Kovalev), Diagnostics of Communication Features (V.N. Nedashkovsky), Personality Orientation in Communication (S.L. Bratchenko), and Diagnostics of Emotional Barriers in Interpersonal Communication (V.V. Boyko). The comparative analysis of the data was carried out using the nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test. The correlation analysis was carried out using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The following gender features of communication in adolescents were identified: 1. Female adolescents have a higher level of conflict and are more itarian in communication, while male adolescents tend to give up equality in favor of the partner. 2. Female adolescents showed a positive relationship between the tendency to understand oneself and emotional involvement in communication. They also showed a positive relationship between individualistic, egocentric and manipulative attitudes in communication and a decrease in effective communication skills. 3. Significant correlations were found in both male and female adolescents. Specifically, an aggressive and itarian position in communication is interconnected with a decrease in the tendency to understand the interlocutor and build an alterocentric position with him or her. Egocentric and itarian positions are associated with conflict and increased negative emotions in communication. It can be concluded that female adolescents are more aggressive, itarian and have more tendency to conflict in communication. Male adolescents are more inclined to conformism. In all adolescents, conflicts, aggression and manipulative communication styles reduce the effectiveness of communication. In female adolescents, the effectiveness of communication is additionally reduced by the egoistic attitude in communication. Based on the findings, the puts forward recommendations on the organization of psychological prevention of communication difficulties in adolescents taking into account their gender.