Who's The Chattier Sex?

(AP)  Another stereotype — chatty gals and taciturn guys — bites the dust.

Turns out, 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," say 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.

[erasmus6]

And further to my post at 1:50 pm:

Another subject that men (in the U.S.)have much to talk about is GUNS.

If you take a little trip over to "World News" "AK-47 Inventor Says Conscience is Clear" you will witness a regular little "gab fest" amongst the men about "their guns".

[erasmus6]

"Been to a Applebees lately around lunch?
up to eight women sitting around tables talking and listening all at once, I've had to move just to hear myself think." posted by ianlou

Have you ever watched the View? They are constantly talking over each other. They have had many complaints but they just keep doing it.
I have taped it a few times and shown it to my husband. He can't take it, it drives him NUTS! And I will even admit it drives me nuts too.

[michellem99-2009]

Next time well , well what did you say..I can't hear you or see yer lips moving..You walked into that one.
girl. YAK YAK. Boy walks in Girl is not chit chat.Ever wonder why. Have not A CLUE. Maybe is a visual thing. I walk in. What wrong with her. Who .you talking to me. Yeah I am yak yak. She, you blind or something. Me, yes so what. you sighted. She,yak yak. OH WELL THAT IS LIFE. It is funny when others use facal expressions. My friend, that parson made a face at you are you not upset. Me why would I be.I can't see their face. They made a fool of themseives. HA-HA.

[ge556]

Wouldn't it be a shame to teach our children that they have to conform to lots of unnecessary *** role rules?

That was supposed to be s.e.x role rules.
Ya gotta love autocensors.

[ge556]

This is a good example of something that everyone KNOWS that turns out to be false.
The lesson to learn from this is to be careful what you believe just because other people believe it.
Everyone used to KNOW that women couldn't do most jobs. Also people of various races.

What if most of the behavioral differences between the sexes don't exist? What if most of the ones that do exist are learned, rather than innate? Wouldn't it be a shame to teach our children that they have to conform to lots of unnecessary *** role rules?

[ianlou]

One other thing. I have noticed over the years that women usually speak the truth whereas men tend to exaggerate a lot.
Posted by erasmus6 at 01:53 PM : Jul 06, 2007

I'll agree with that one.

I also believe that women are the only gender that makes full use of the telephone; they can, and do, talk and listen simultaneously.

Been to an Applebees lately around lunch?
up to eight women sitting around tables talking and listening all at once, I've had to move just to hear myself think.

[erasmus6]

One other thing. I have noticed over the years that women usually speak the truth whereas men tend to exaggerate a lot.

[erasmus6]

tcoleman12

"Men get on the phone: Where are we meeting, what time, see you there."

Are you kidding me? It is more like: Did you see what that car had on it, blah, blah, blah. Remember how big that fish was (and of course it is exaggerated), blah, blah, blah. I have s-e-x three times a day, which of course is a bold faced lie, but hey, we have to impress the buddies, don't we?
And then there is the SPORTS.......

Of course my husband isn't into watching sports and if he started I would divorce him.

[erasmus6]

infidel_us

"Your lips move but I can't hear what you say."

That's because your brain dead.:)

[infidel_us]

"Your lips move but I can't hear what you say." :)