The impact of gender and its interaction with role and status on the use of tag questions in meetings

Abstract

The use of tag questions in speech has been hypothesised to make speech sound uncertain and tentative although Holmes (1984) suggests that there are three different types of tag questions and only one type is linked to uncertainty. Research on the issue of gender differences in tag question usage has produced confusing findings with some research indicating women use more tag questions, other research revealing men use more and some research finding no difference. The research on tag question use has identified role and power as important factors not just gender. The effects of the presence of the opposite sex on speech is a controversial area of study. Past research suggests that the use of tag questions is affected by whether the conversation is between members of the same sex or members of both sexes. The current study aimed to clarify the controversy of whether men or women use more tag questions, any possible effects of group composition and sought to extend research on the relationship of tag question use to role (chairperson or not) and power (highest status or not). The study was conducted at a power station in England. Ten business meetings which were all male, all female or mixed were tape recorded. From these tape recordings the tag questions were identified, transcribed and classified as modal, affective facilitative or affective softener according to the classification provided by Holmes (1984).

Citation

Calnan, A.C.T. and Davidson, M.J. (1998), "The impact of gender and its interaction with role and status on the use of tag questions in meetings", Women in Management Review, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 19-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/09649429810369604