Gender and Politeness Rules 2
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine politeness rules based on gender in Japan and the
United States. Seventy-three politeness rules in Japan and the United States were adapted
from Ogawa and Gudykunst’s (1999) study. The multivariate interaction effect between
national culture and gender was significant. Given that the multivariate interaction effect was
significant, gender differences in politeness rules were examined within national cultures.
Five rules were significantly different by gender in Japan, and six rules were significantly
different by gender in the United States. All means were higher for females than for males,
and most of the rules appear to be associated with other-oriented attitudes. The results
suggest that a rule-oriented approach seems to be a viable method for studying gender and
politeness.