By ages 3-5, children have established same-gender social preferences and begin actively excluding the other gender. Boys socialize in larger, more competitive groups playing ranked roles, while girls socialize in smaller, more cooperative groups playing reciprocal roles. These same-gender socialization patterns are often reinforced through separate educational experiences, leading to differences in cross-gender interaction styles. Specifically, men are more likely to interrupt women and take longer turns speaking, while women produce more back-channel responses to indicate listening, which men can misinterpret as agreement. The lack of back-channels from men can make women feel they are not being listened to.

1. (Girl×Girl) vs (Boy×Boy)
• It is important to pay attention to the concept of
“ same-gender” talk because much of our
socialization takes place in such groups
• By the time we are 3 years old, we have established a
preference for talking to same-gender others.
• By the age of 5, boys are actively excluding girls from their
activities and commenting negatively on boys who
associate with girls

2. Boys
1.Boys socialize in larger
groups ( often in
competitive activities)
They play ranked roles .2
( I am spiderman and you
have to follow me💪)

3. Girls
1.Girls socialize in small groups
( often in co-operative
activities) 👭
They play reciprocal .2
relationships and
exchanging roles
(You can be the doctor
now and I’ll be ill🤗💗)

4. In many societies, this same-gender
socialization is reinforced through
separate educational experiences.
Not surprisingly then, there are
differences in the way each gender
approaches interaction with the
other...

5. Gendered-interaction
The facility in exchanging turns :
Women
1- The already identified
features in woman’s speech
facilitate the exchange of turns
2- Allow others to speake
3- The interaction becomes a
shared activity *
men
1- I am the only one having the
right to speake ( having the
floor)
2- Men take longer turns at
speaking**
3- In some social contexts as
the religious events, only one is
allowed to speake

7. Times of interruptions :
Same gender
Speakers interrupt
each other few times
Cross gender
Men are much likely to
interrupt women , with
96% in one study
involving American
students
.................

8. Back-channels ( yeah, really?) (hmmm, oh) :
Same-gender
“women"
• Women produce**
more back-channels
• It is an indication of
listening and paying
attention
Same-gender
“Men”
• Men produce fewer
back-channels
• They think that it
indicates agreement
when produced by
others **
.................

9. The absence of back-channels : cross-gender
interaction
• The absence of back-channels from men tends
to make women think the men are not paying
attention to them *
• The more frequent production of back-channels
by women leads men to think that women are
agreeing with what they are saying *