Let's talk about another question today: Manterrupt. Why do men keep interrupting women when they are talking?

As a woman, you used to yell, "Don't interrupt me again?" Could you please listen to what I'm going to say? What you just said is not the concept I mentioned in my previous report? 」

Have you ever heard of a word called manterrupting? As the literal meaning, man and Interrupt refer to "Men unnecessarily interrupt a woman's conversation." "In this situation, in the workplace, on stage, in life, as a woman we should be not unfamiliar."


Wait, Kayne West, now it's like Taylor Swift's.

To say the most classic example, the 2009 MTV Music Video Awards (VMA) event, Taylor Swift is preparing to deliver a winning speech, Kanye West rushed to Taiwan abruptly grabbed the microphone, branded the next: "Congratulations Taylor, but you wait, I'll let you finish. "And then say"beyonce's music video is the best in history! " 」

Too remote An example? Well, think about the workplace. Halfway through the woman's report, the man suddenly used a larger voice, a clearer tone, to repeat what she had said, or to explain it to the end from a condescending gesture. Such "explanation" phenomenon, in the workplace is not uncommon, also known as mansplainging.

Look at the gory data for the example. "A multilingual male leader will be perceived as more capable (10%), and a female leader who talks more is less likely to be judged by a peer," said Grant, a Facebook operator and professor of Wharton School of Business at Wharton (14% "And according to Princeton's 2012-year study," Only 25% of the speech rights in women's workplace meetings, 75% are men speaking. 」

Why there are manterrupting and mansplaining phenomena (or we can call this phenomenon more gender-neutral talk-blocking), psychologists have come up with different reasons, perhaps not just a phrase " Men feel that they are the boss "so simple, but this phenomenon is not uncommon, but also let the community women's voice right everywhere restricted." For women, as long as the manterrupting situation continues, owning a seat is not necessarily equivalent to having the right of speaking. (same field Gayon: look at Casual sexism from the naked women's shirts )

The psychology behind manterrupting: Isn't it all a man's fault?

Linguistic psychologists Hancock and Rubin the language habits of men and women, and found that in most cases, women try to avoid directly answering questions, using words like "maybe", more dramatic adjectives such as "very, super" and "en". I think, "and rhetorical questions like," What do you think? Yes, right? "In general, women's language communication habits are more elegant and tactful, more communication, but also so it sounds more uncertain."

Men, by contrast, tend to be concise and articulate, using less tactful words, and usually don't mind a direct problem or interrupt. "For about three minutes, women only interrupt men on average, but men interrupt women as many as 2.8 times," she said. "The study points out.

Another psychologist, Ms Chemaly , pointed to manterrupting, a man with an overly confident performance, with a huge gap between men's and women's self-confidence in the workplace.

"Why are men so confident?" This is not just a difference in the workings of the brain, but from small to large, we are not shy to tell them "you are great", "you have the right to speak." What about the woman? 」

Psychologists named Ms Tannen acknowledge the inequalities behind Manterrupting and point out that men and women communicate for different purposes. Men communicate in order to "get progress"; women communicate in order to "generate links". Therefore, for men, life is more like a ladder, the higher the rank is the better position; for women, life is like a net, and the more links you try to produce the better. A vertical development, a horizontal development.

According to the theory of Ms Tannen, Joyce Benenson 's thesis explains the interactive process of dialogue between men and women. A man first mentions a familiar point of view, a woman nods first to agree, establishes a relationship, and wishes to be invited to speak. But the message that a man will receive is that she agrees with me, so I can go on and use a gesture of "I know more". In the same way, it happens in the mansplaining case. (mansplaining words from Rebecca Solnit's paper, she wrote a book titled "Men Explain Everything to me." )

Summing up these psychologists, the language world of men and women is basically two kinds of order, of course, this does not mean that every man, every woman, every conversation is so. But the fact that men do not allow women to speak does often happen.

Whether men or women, we can ask ourselves such a question: men and women into the workplace, what is playing the rules? Is there a positive trait or a negative trait in the workplace? (same field Gayon: Women in the workplace: An interview with Shengan Global CEO)

Write to men and women, how to avoid manterrupting?

No matter who is pointing the finger, to solve the problem, Timemagazine listed the following 5 practical practice to avoid manterupting, to help us create a two-gender more comfortable workplace environment.

1. Recognition of the phenomenon of manterrupting remains a manifestation of gender discrimination

We are not necessarily hostile, but we do have "subconscious prejudices", and such discrimination and prejudice are closely related to past history. We have been taught this way: men lead, women keep the household. So when a woman reveals a positive trait: decision-making, authority, leadership, we often think that she overflows the gender role she is expected to have. The study also points out that women are not only interrupted by men, but also by other women.

Facing and acknowledging the unfair treatment of women in the workplace will be the first step to change.

2. Establish "no interruption" rules in the workplace

It is polite to reduce the interruption frequency in the report without distinction of sex.

American Super screenwriter Glen Mazzara shared his findings that the female playwrights on the team were less and more in the discussion because they were either interrupted or their ideas stolen. So he set up "report not interrupted" principle, the situation is much better, the whole team meeting efficiency also increased.

3. Third party intervention to let the interrupt know that he is interrupting others

Sometimes, interrupting someone's conversation is an unconscious act, and at the first moment of interruption, you can be reminded that you are interrupting her report. "Or just say," Wait, let her report it first "or" Hey, I'm serious about listening to her report. " if you're on the scene and you're uncomfortable with the manterrupting phenomenon, say it!"

4. Support your female colleagues

Whether a man or a woman, if you hear her report, and you like it, please don't mean to encourage her or support her directly. Doing so will lead to a positive cycle in the workplace, and other people will realize that this is the attitude towards women employees.

5. Give credit to the right person

Avoid mansplainging and bropropriating phenomena, from the credit to the right people. Whoever makes a good idea, who does it well, praises who. (bropropriating refers to the man after the woman explained, silently the credit transferred to himself.) )

The organization LeanIn, which was founded by the FB operation, was also giving women some specific advice to encourage women to come up with a career professional spirit, indicating "Don't you interrupt me, and I don't need to give you an explanation." (Recommended reading:Lean in female power conquer the workplace )

1. Mastering your own language

Don't let the language overwhelm your profession. Quit "I'm not sure that's true, but ..." gestures, practice decisiveness and clear speaking. And never say sorry before the report.

2. Practice "confident" body language

Body language, decide what kind of person you are, let body language for professional multiplication, not afraid to show in front of the crowd how capable. Studies show that men tend to lean forward more often during meetings (remember the male director leaning forward in the movie), which makes him less susceptible to interruptions. Women often retreat from the body, presenting an easily interrupted posture.

In the form of posture, Amy Cuddy's speech at Ted, "who is who you are," is worth a visit. Spend 2 minutes, hands waist, head up, pretending to be a supernatural woman Superman. Your body language affects you, and in turn, governs your mind. (Recommended reading: Six Ted speeches, let you see your strength )

There are men and women in the workplace, we want to play not the rules of men, we have to advocate is not a positive trait, but to create a two gender are comfortable, double the efficiency of the rules.

In this way, we may be able to see a new job map, things to do faster, more solutions to problems, and two of genders have a say in how to express their opinions. We all look forward to a more neutral workplace. (Recommended reading: Both men and women should learn the workplace success: soft to others, to their own vicious )