Final answer:
Gender differences in communication can include men's tendency to assert status and women's to build connections, affecting self-perception and interactions. While research shows some slight differences in children's speech patterns, implying cultural rather than biological factors, these patterns can still influence how individuals are perceived and perceive themselves.
Step-by-step explanation:
Two gender differences in communication that can affect communication and self-perception are speech patterns related to asserting social hierarchy and building social connections, as well as linguistic tendencies such as interruption and self-disclosure. For instance, men may engage in conversation to assert their status, while women may seek to create rapport and build connections. This difference can lead to women being perceived, or indeed perceiving themselves, as more cooperative and men as more dominant. On the other hand, a slight tendency for boys to interrupt more and for girls to be more forthcoming in conversation can influence how they are treated and how they view their own communicative abilities. However, these patterns are not rigid or universal, as suggested by research demonstrating that children's speech patterns show only slight gender differences, implying these behaviors are more a result of cultural factors than biological ones.