Sex differences in interruption: An experimental reevaluation

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to assess the validity of previously reported sex differences in the frequency of interruptions during a dyadic conversation. In both experiments, 24 undergraduates (12 male, 12 female) were randomly paired with previously unacquainted partners out of the sample to create eight same-sex pairs and four cross-sex pairs. Each pair's discussion was secretly tape-recorded and later analyzed for two measures of interruption: rate of interruption and percentage of interruptions initiated by each speaker. Experiment 1 and 2 differed in the setting in which the conversations took place. The first experiment was conducted in a “casual setting,” and the latter in a “laboratory setting.” Contrary to previously reported findings, a tendency for females to interrupt males more than vice versa for both measures of interruption was revealed in Experiment 1. However, in Experiment 2, males were found to interrupt somewhat more than females. Finally, a highly significant interaction effect of setting was found, which suggests that there may be cause to believe there is a differential setting effect for males and females in the various groups.