Women Talk More Than Men?

[sbk]

Women Chattier? It's All Just Talk

Difference Between Men, Women Not Significant

POSTED: 12:55 pm MDT July 5, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Another stereotype -- chatty gals and taciturn guys -- bites the dust.

It turns out that when you actually count the words, there isn't much difference between the sexes when it comes to talking.

A team led by Matthias R. Mehl, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, came up with the finding, which is published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

The researchers placed microphones on 396 college students for periods ranging from two to 10 days, sampled their conversations and calculated how many words they used in the course of a day.

The score: Women, 16,215. Men, 15,669.

The difference: 546 words: "Not statistically significant," said the researchers.

"What's a 500-word difference, compared with the 45,000-word difference between the most and the least talkative persons" in the study, said Mehl.

Co-author James W. Pennebaker, chairman of the psychology department at the University of Texas, said the researchers collected the recordings as part of a larger project to understand how people are affected when they talk about emotional experiences.

They were surprised when a magazine article asserted that women use an average of 20,000 words per day compared with 7,000 for men. If there had been that big a difference, he thought, they should have noticed it.

They found that the 20,000-7,000 figures have been used in popular books and magazines for years. But they couldn't find any research supporting them.

"Although many people believe the stereotypes of females as talkative and males as reticent, there is no large-scale study that systematically has recorded the natural conversations of large groups of people for extended periods of time," Pennebaker said.

Indeed, Mehl said, one study they found, done in workplaces, showed men talking more.

Still, the idea that women use nearly three times as many words a day as men has taken on the status of an "urban legend," he said.

"We realized we had the data," Mehl said in a telephone interview, so they went back to their recordings and calculated the actual numbers.

Their research began with one group of students in 1998, two groups sampled in 2001, two in 2003 and a final group in 2004. One of the 2003 groups involved 51 students in Mexico, the rest were all in the United States.

The students were fitted with unobtrusive recorders that sampled their conversations -- the students didn't know when the recorders were on. From the samples, a total number of words for the day could be calculated.

Of the six groups sampled, women used more words than men in three and men used more words than women in the other three, including the one in Mexico.

The research was limited to college students, but Pennebaker said he believes it would probably apply to others in the same age range.

"The question is, how it applies to people as we get older," he said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Mehl said he thinks it should apply across age groups, but he wondered how it would be affected by different cultures.

Denver Channel 7

[November Rain]

Interesting. I'd always believed it, as I can spend hours chatting on the phone to my Mum or close friends and when questioned about what we'd talked about answer, perfectly honestly, "Nothing, really..."

However, if you look at the daily top 20 stats in here (I know it's typing, not talking, but it's communication - right?) it's usually mainly the men taking up those top spots. sbk & Jet are often there, but sbk's moddying - don't know what your excuse is, Jettie! Yeah, thinking about it, in my everyday life, I'd say men & women talk an equal amount.

[Jet Gorgon]

Me, NR? I very rarely check stats on anything unless I'm working. Maybe I do post alot, but I rarely mince or waste my words. My best real-life pals here in Van are male one-line experts and they never let me skip a beating if I slip up. I do not utter needless words, but I always try to be polite, except to tossers.

[Jet Gorgon]

? triple play

Edited July 6, 2007 by Jet Gorgon

[Jet Gorgon]

oops, dbl post (hey, NR, that's why I got so many, hehe).

Edited July 6, 2007 by Jet Gorgon

[bkkmadness]

She just has a need to say what she says three times.

Edited July 6, 2007 by bkkmadness

[garro]

I am a male nurse and have spent a lot of time in mostly female surrondings. I think women can spend a lot of time talking but saying very little, but then again so can men.

[GracelessFawn]

Men talk more than women when they're sarcastic and grouchy.

[suegha]

It's true, there is no difference between the sexes! Some people are just more talkative than others regardless of their sex!

I love to chat, I love the way coversations grow and evolve. You start talking about something and realise 10 mins later that you are somewhere totally different, and you don't know how you got there. It's fab!

[farangsay]

I am a male nurse and have spent a lot of time in mostly female surrondings. I think women can spend a lot of time talking but saying very little, but then again so can men.

Is that some variety of sarong ?

Have you told your employers you would feel more comfortable in trousers , or is it OK with you what with the hot weather and all ?

[Pattaya_Fox]

My wife says that it`s no wonder women talk more. They usually have to say something two or three times as men just don`t listen.

[suegha]

My wife says that it`s no wonder women talk more. They usually have to say something two or three times as men just don`t listen.

Now that's true and not an urban myth. Woman listen far better than men. It's been proven, it has to do with focus and multi-tasking!

I'l try to find a link.

[Minburi]

My wife says that it`s no wonder women talk more. They usually have to say something two or three times as men just don`t listen.

Now that's true and not an urban myth. Woman listen far better than men. It's been proven, it has to do with focus and multi-tasking!

I'l try to find a link.

What were you saying?

[suegha]

555555!

[eek]

I am a male nurse and have spent a lot of time in mostly female surrondings. I think women can spend a lot of time talking but saying very little, but then again so can men.

nooooooooooo....just an interpretation barrier. Men are generally more blunt, say what they mean sorta creatures. Women are like Shakespeare, you have to read between the lines in order to get the full meaning.

[bendix]

Women are like Shakespeare

As in . . .beautiful, prone to wearing tights, and completely incomprehensible to 95% of the population, including themselves?

[sbk]

Women are like Shakespeare

As in . . .beautiful, prone to wearing tights, and completely incomprehensible to 95% of the population, including themselves?

No, make that 50% of the population bendix. We understand each other pretty well

But, I'll accept the rest

[PeaceBlondie]

Lots of men understand women fairly well. Lots of women understand men very well.

[Jet Gorgon]

My wife says that it`s no wonder women talk more. They usually have to say something two or three times as men just don`t listen.

Mabel: "Jeb, how many times do I have to tell you to (insert jobjar task)"

Jeb: "Huh? Oh ya, OK, honey..."