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New research shows that women speak slightly more words per day than men, but the difference is not as great as the common stereotype about female talkativeness suggests.
Back in 2007, psychologists found that the average number of words spoken per day by men and women was almost the same – around 16. However, the study was criticized for its limited sample size, consisting mainly of students. To clarify the results, a group of scientists led by By Matthias Mayle from the University of Arizona repeated the experiment, increasing the sample to 2197 people from USA, Switzerland, Serbia and AustraliaNew data collected from 2005 to 2019 confirmed that women do indeed talk slightly more than men, but the advantage is small.
On average, women uttered 13 words per day, while men – 11 words. The gap in 1399 words was twice as high as previous estimates, but the researchers note that this difference is not significant. In addition, the number of words spoken varied significantly depending on the individual: some participants barely spoke 100 words a day, while others exceeded 120 000.
Interestingly, the gap in the number of words spoken increased with age. In adolescents (10–17 years old) and young people (18–24 years old) it was minimal, but at the age 25–64 years women spoke on average 3275 words moreScientists have also investigated the effects of stress, as there is a hypothesis that women talk more in stressful situations. However, experiments have not confirmed that stress significantly affects word count.
The researchers conclude that while women generally talk slightly more than men, individual differences are much more important than gender differences. Ultimately, the question of whether women are “more talkative” remains open, and the results of the new study are published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Psychologists Re-Compare Talkativeness of Men and Women appeared first on Curiosity.
