Does Gender Influence the Way People Provide and Receive Politeness? : A Research Study on the Differences or Similarities Between Gender and Linguistic Politeness

Abstract: This essay examines the relation between gender and adherence to Brown and Levinson's Politeness Principle. Women and men tend to use language for different purposes and for the purpose of achieving various goals. In order to examine this relation, a research study was conducted. Two women and three men were observed discussing subjects given by an interviewer. The collected interview data gathered from the conversation was analyzed and related to the Politeness Principle. Aspects from sociolinguistics, such as theories from gender and language studies, and the Cooperative Principle as proposed by H P Grice, were also considered and formed part of the analysis. The results indicate that there is a small difference between women’s versus men’s adherence to the Politeness Principle. More specifically, women tend to use more aspects of linguistic politeness. However, as the sample group of the research study consisted of only five participants, the limits of the study in terms of the generalizability of the results are recognized and suggestions have been made for further research.