Gender Differences in Nonverbal Communication: A Case Study of Philippine Journalists, Inc.

Abstract

Men and women are said to be social beings and as such it is impossible for them not to communicate. Such communication is done not only through verbal means but also through nonverbals like kinesics, paralinguistics, haptics, artifactual communication, and proxemics. Several authors suggest that the claimed differences between men and women hold true even in nonverbal communication such as in their use of eye contact, facial expressions, posture and bearing, gestures, space, touch, clothes and accessories, and vocal cues. On the other hand, other authors say that there are no differences in the way males and females communicate. It is noted however, that the bases for these claims arc the studies done in the West because similar studies have not yet been done in the Philippine setting, particularly in the workplace. Given the dearth of studies on male/female differences in nonverbal communication, this paper aims to answer this question: Do the male and female members of Philippine Journalists, Inc. differ in their use of using nonverbal communication? The following specific questions are likewise posed: 1) What is the nature of the Philippine Journalists, Inc. (PJ1)?; 2) Do the male and female members of this organization engage in nonverbal communication? If so, what nonverbal means are these?; and 3) What are the similarities and differences in the nonverbal communication among the male and female members of this organization? Given the above problems, this paper generally seeks to know if males and females differ in using nonverbal communication in Philippine organizational setting. In order to achieve this general objective, the following specific objectives were raised: 1) To know the nature of Philippine Journalists, Inc.; 2) To identify which nonverbal communication the male and female members of the organization use; and 3) To determine the similarities and differences in nonverbal communication among the male and female members of the organization. This study is a descriptive-case study which made use of survey research in getting the data needed from the respondents. Given that the study deals with gender differences, the researcher deemed it necessary to have the same number of male and female respondents for the survey. Out of the 439 members of PJI, the researcher picked 172 members (86 males and 86 females) who comprise 39 percent of the total population. For the qualitative in-depth data about the organization, the head of the Human Resources Department was interviewed as a key informant. This research used two tools—a survey questionnaire and an interview schedule. The former contain questions dealing with the nonverbal communication they usually use in the organization; the latter with the organization’s history, structure and mission/vision. The tools used for analyzing the data were a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. For the quantitative method, frequencies and percentages were used to describe the nonverbal communication that male and female members frequently use. Furthermore, chi-square test was employed for testing the significant difference of males and females in nonverbal communication. On the other hand, theme analysis was utilized for the qualitative data gathered from the interview. From the data it was found that the Philippine Journalists, Inc., which was established on October 21, 1972, has four tabloids and two magazines at present. This formally structured organization has 439 employees who work under the three major divisions namely, the Administrative, Production and Marketing divisions. It was also found that males and females in this organization use nonverbal behaviors to communicate with one another. These nonverbal means include kinesics, paralinguistics, haptics, artifactual communication and proxemics. Furthermore, it appears that males and females share similarities and differences in their use of nonverbal communication. When tested through the chi-square test, the differences that were found to be statistically significant are only those in kinesics and artifactual communication; no significant difference was found in paralinguistics, haptics and proxemics. Given the above findings, it was concluded that the Philippine Journalists, Inc., which was established on October 21, 1972, publishes four tabloids and two magazines. It was also found that both the male and female members of this organization use nonverbal behaviors particularly kinesics, paralinguistics, haptics, artifactual communication and proxemics in communicating with one another. Meanwhile, chi square results show that of these five, only two specifically kinesics and artifactual communication were statistically significant. Finally, it can be concluded that males and females in Philippine Journalists, Inc. differ in using nonverbal communication specifically in kinesics and artifactual communication.