Men and Women’s Use of Influence Tactics Differences and Consequences

Abstract

Despite the large amount of research on influence tactics, the potential gender differences regarding usage of tactics has been somewhat disregarded. An influence behavior questionnaire study with 20 managers, and an influence incident interview study with 5 people was conducted to investigate if some gendered patterns could be identified. The use of tactics was measured with the agent version of the IBQ-G, and the influence interview reports were conducted as interviews from a target perspective. Results indicated that women and men favor different influence tactics, even if gender is only one part of the puzzle. The men in Study 1 rated themselves as more effective but worse at eliciting complete commitment in their targets compared to the women. Study 2 indicated that men and women are believed to use different influence tactics, but that individual preferences will tend to be stronger. Rational persuasion was found to be the most frequent and effective tactic according to both studies. This study suggests that women and men might favor using different tactics, even if differences are likely to also be affected by other contextual factors. Some tactics are shown to be more successful in eliciting commitment in targets, regardless of the gender of the agent. The results suggest that gender should be offered a stronger place in future influence tactic research to create a more complete analysis. Knowing what tactics both men and women could be in favor of using is also a contribution of this study.