Something to talk about
In September ( "Worth a Thousand Words" 9/6/2006), we discussed the common belief that men use only 7,000 words per day, whereas women use 20,000. According to an AP story by Randolph Schmid (2007) released yesterday, researchers at the University of Arizona have contradicted this claim. Mehl et al (2007) attribute the 7,000-20,000 claim to Louann Brizendine, who used it in her book The Female Brain (2006), but point out that similar claims have appeared (uncited) in the popular media for at least 15 years (see Liberman 2006).
Mehl et al attached microphones to 396 undergraduates (from the U.S. and Mexico) over a period of two to ten days, and found that both men and women averaged around 16,000 words per day. Standard deviations were also fairly similar, at 7,301 daily words for women and 8,633 daily words for men. On the other hand, Leaper and Smith's 2004 meta-analysis found that in childhood, girls were slightly more talkative: "although the average gender difference was statistically significant, it was relatively negligible in magnitude" (p 1012).
As I pointed out in September: "I'm a talker." Except that I realized lately that it's extremely variable by situation, and that I'm reacting more feedback saying I talk too much than to other feedback that I am "quiet" or "a good listener" (statements that never fail to floor me, but come fairly often). I'm definitely shy, and I think I don't talk much around people that I'm not comfortable with. Part of this is that I'm extremely unsure of my self-censoring capabilities. I have no idea how this comes out on average.
Mehl et al attached microphones to 396 undergraduates (from the U.S. and Mexico) over a period of two to ten days, and found that both men and women averaged around 16,000 words per day. Standard deviations were also fairly similar, at 7,301 daily words for women and 8,633 daily words for men. On the other hand, Leaper and Smith's 2004 meta-analysis found that in childhood, girls were slightly more talkative: "although the average gender difference was statistically significant, it was relatively negligible in magnitude" (p 1012).
As I pointed out in September: "I'm a talker." Except that I realized lately that it's extremely variable by situation, and that I'm reacting more feedback saying I talk too much than to other feedback that I am "quiet" or "a good listener" (statements that never fail to floor me, but come fairly often). I'm definitely shy, and I think I don't talk much around people that I'm not comfortable with. Part of this is that I'm extremely unsure of my self-censoring capabilities. I have no idea how this comes out on average.