Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Communication
First Advisor
Dr. Malcolm Jason
Second Advisor
Dr. Kristen Livingston
Third Advisor
Dr. Casie Hermansson
Keywords
Gender, Communication, Sociolinguistics, Nonbinary, Trans
Abstract
Traditional models of gender communication studies have often conceptualized communicative behavior through binary distinctions between masculine and feminine interactional styles. While foundational frameworks such as Deborah Tannen’s Genderlect Styles theory provided important insight into culturally learned communication patterns, contemporary scholarship increasingly suggests that communication is fluid, context-dependent, and shaped by overlapping social and relational influences. In response, this study developed and evaluated the Genderlect Spectrum Model (GSM), a multidimensional framework that reconceptualizes communicative tendencies as independent, co-occurring spectrums rather than mutually exclusive categories.
Grounded in interactional sociolinguistics, performativity theory, and intersectional perspectives on gender and communication, the study employed a qualitative ethnographic methodology examining communicative behavior within one fraternity and one sorority at a public university in the United States. Data collection consisted of naturalistic observations, observational jottings, ethnographic fieldnotes, and reflexive memos gathered across multiple organizational contexts. Observational data were analyzed through interactional sociolinguistic analysis and GSM spectrum-based coding across five communicative dimensions.
Findings demonstrated that communicative behavior within both groups was fluid, multidimensional, and context-sensitive rather than consistently aligned with fixed masculine or feminine styles. Participants routinely combined communicative orientations often treated as oppositional within binary communication models, including collaboration and assertiveness, empathic engagement and problem-solving, and harmony preservation and direct confrontation. Communicative patterns additionally shifted according to audience visibility, institutional expectations, leadership roles, and situational demands.
Overall, the findings support the GSM’s usefulness as a spectrum-based framework for analyzing communicative overlap, hybridity, and contextual variability within highly gendered environments. The study contributes to broader efforts within gender and communication scholarship to develop more flexible and context-sensitive approaches to understanding gendered communication.
Recommended Citation
Shepard, Lauren, "ADAPTING GENDERLECT STYLES: TOWARD A GENDERLECT SPECTRUM MODEL (GSM)" (2026). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 843.
https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/etd/843
