Gender Differences in Giving Addresses: A Study of Address Forms in Iranian Communication

Many studies have addressed way-finding and direction-giving strategies regarding the differences between males and females in terms of behavior and self-report measures. To put it in a nutshell, men and women have cognitive and mental differences in the way they communicate and handle various linguistic and psychological issues. Therefore, the idea of giving directions might call the attention of scholars to explore its differences between the two genders. In this study, these differences are identified based on four aspects of giving directions proposed by Ward et.al. (1986), including cardinal directions, relational terms, landmarks, and mileage estimates. The study was carried out with 140 adults above 15 years old in Khorramabad, Lorestan, Iran. The data was gathered via questioners for literate participants and descriptive interviews for illiterate participants. The results showed that women tended to be more specific and exact in giving step by step directions. They had also a great inclination towards utilizing relational terms. Men on the other side, were more bound to pointing to directions by referring to exact mileage and using cardinal directions more often. In addition, the analysis found 103 references to landmarks, of which 59 were made by men and the rest by women. This study can guide toward having a clearer picture of the gender differences and have implications for educators as well as policymakers.