Communication Style of Employed and Unemployed Men and Women in Pakistan
Ayesha Hanif, Wajiha Khalid, Dr. M. Tahir Nawaz

Abstract
This study aims at exploring how the state of employment/unemployment affects a person’s self-assessment of his/her communicative abilities? Knowing and assessing one’s personal communication style and fine tuning it with the passage of time is essential for success in business life as it creates lasting impressions on people. The common perception is that women who work are more confident, open and outspoken as compared to women who are not involved in work-pressure environment. Similarly, employed men have a commanding and dominant style of communication, which is not the case with unemployed young men who may show signs of frustration and low self-esteem in the way they express themselves verbally and non-verbally. On the basis of a 50-item CSM (Communicator Style Measurement) questionnaire evaluated on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1.00 to 5.00, we distributed survey forms among young men and women in Pakistan. The determination of mean values by evaluating responses gathered lead to the determination of dominant communication style of each stratum based on ten independent variables, which are Dominant, Dramatic, Contentious, Animated, Impression Leaving, Relaxed, Attentive, Open, Precise and Friendly. Since a person’s communicator style is a combination of two or more styles, once we identify the dominant communicator styles and differences between communicator styles of employed men, employed women, unemployed men and unemployed women, it will help us flex our style to suit social situations and audience. In a society like Pakistan where people are often unable to express themselves effectively in working environment, the differences in communicator style this study highlights will ultimately aid in the general understanding of differences and how they can be overcome for effective communication professionally.

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