44 [29] Gigi : Thank you
....silence…Youve given me a lot to think about. The conversation above happened when Gigi was silent when she thanked
Alex who gave her advice about her problem see Appendix A, p. 59, item 33. There was a long space before she explained more about the effect of Alex‟s advice to Gigi
“Youve given me a lot to think about.”
B. The Factors of Misunderstanding in Alex’s and Gigi’s Conversations
In this section the researcher analyzed and interpreted which factors of misunderstanding that happened in Alex‟s and Gigi‟s conversations.
1. Involvement versus Independence
To prove this factor, the researcher analyzed the following conversations as represented in example [30] and [31]:
Example [30] Gigi : Im Gigi. Conor and I went out last week. And I just
….I thought if I ran into him
….I dont know. Im gonna go. Alex : Look, you seem like a cool girl, so Im just gonna be honest with you,
Conor is never going to call you. Gigi : Oh really? How do you know?
Alex : Because Im a guy. Its just how we do it.
The conversation above happened when Alex and Gigi met to each other for the first time see Appendix A, pp. 57-58, items 16-20. In this part, Gigi tried to
share her personal problem to Alex “Conor and I went out last week. And I just….I thought if I ran into him
” because she knew that Conor is Alex‟s friend. Here, Gigi saw an opportunity where she could tell what had happened between her and Conor.
45 It can be said that in getting involved in their conversation, Gigi used self-disclosure.
She disclosed her own personal information to Alex. On the other hand, Alex responded Gigi‟s problem by giving advice “Im just gonna be honest with you,
Conor is never going to call you .” This conversation indicates that the female speaker
tended to share their personal problem and expected that she was get involved. Example [31]
Alex : I once called 55 Lauren Bells until I got the right one. Gigi : Thats cute. What happened?
Alex : Oh, yeah, as it turns out, her ass looked really huge in daylight. Gigi : Is it your sensitivity that makes you so popular with women?
Alex : Dont call him. He doesnt like you.
In contrast, the example above shows that the male speaker, Alex, did not want to disclose more about his personal problem see Appendix B, pp. 61-62, items
52-56. Alex tried to share his experience when he was looking for the right woman for him, and then Gigi asked what happened next. He responded to
Gigi‟s question by continuing his story. When Gigi asked deeper about his story, Alex did not answer
her question but he restated to Gigi about their previous topic “Dont call him. He doesnt like you.
” Both examples [30] and [31] portray the different perceptions about sharing
personal information in cross-sex conversations. Example [30] represents the characteristic of women speaker that involvement is one of the successful goals in
interaction. On the other hand, example [31] shows that men speaker tend to seek independence in their interaction.
