Gender, Interpersonal Orientation, and manipulation tactic use in close relationships

Abstract

Investigations have focused on influence tactic pattern use in relation to socialized power differences due to gender. We carried Swap and Rubin's (1987) Interpersonal Orientation (IO) variable into the Buss, Gomes, Higgins, & Lauterbach (1987) framework for manipulation tactic use. Subjects were male and female undergraduates (N= 53) who scored either in the upper or lower quartiles of the IO scale. At testing, high and low IO subjects completed a demographic questionnaire and the Manipulation Tactics index with regard to a close, opposite-sex friend. We found that high IO females reported more frequent use of manipulation tactics than low IO females. Males' reported use of manipulation tactics was unrelated to their IO status. The results were discussed in terms of possible adaptive patterns developed by females to deal with perceived chronic powerlessness.