Gender Identity In Communication Styles And Counter-Stereotype Tolerance Of High School Students In Nanjing

With the development of society, women have been receiving more attention and gaining higher social status, which has brought change to understandings of the traditional gender concepts and gender roles. In the meantime, the Chinese society is also witnessing new ideas and behavioral codes, especially the"unisex"fashion—the"feminization"of men and"masculinization"of women—which bewilders people's conceptions of gender identity, and makes some worry about the effects of this trend on young people, who are going through the most crucial period of value formation.It is out of these concerns that the author has conducted a research among high school students in Nanjing to study their gender role identity, communication styles, and their understanding and tolerance of gender-related counter-stereotypical behaviors. The questions this thesis explores are: 1) How are the four gender identity types distributed among respondents of this study? 2) Is young people's perception of their other-gender counterparts objective and justified, and do they have any wish or thought of becoming member of the other gender—what the author calls"other-gender inclination"? 3) What is the relationship between one's gender identity and his or her communication styles? 4) What behaviors are considered genderly counter-stereotypical, and what are the attitude these student respondents hold toward them?Based mainly on Bem's (1981) two-dimensional analysis of gender identity, and Norton's (1978) communication style factors, this study is composed of a three-part questionnaire and has collected data from 214 students (108 boys and 106 girls) from three high schools in Nanjing. All data have been processed with statistical tools such as validity and reliability tests, correlation tests, and factor analysis. Through data analysis, the author finds that compared to previous studies, the percentage of androgynous people in study is rising; the androgynous population reports high scores in all communication styles tested while the undifferentiated population comes last; the gender-related connotations inherent in communication styles are changed to a great extend in this study; the author has also found evidence of a changed understanding of gender-related counter-stereotypical behaviors.Compared with the previous studies, the author goes the next step by combining gender identity with communication styles, and attempts to compare young people's changing gender stereotypes. The author also employs a gender identity scale in the exploration of other-gender perception, and discusses the seldom-mentioned"other-gender inclination", which is found to be relatively common. The thesis concludes with a summary statement, limitations, and recommendations for future research.