Rants From The Rookery: I keep telling and telling you guys

Thursday, July 05, 2007

I keep telling and telling you guys

But do you listen? NoooOOOooo....

WASHINGTON (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.

So whaddya think, huh? Huh? Whatcha thinking? Hmmm?

Update 7/7: Echidne of Echidne Of The Snakes has the last word.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: My wife is a lot less talkative than me. She's better at math, too.; 7/6/07, 1:46 AM
Steve Bates said...: "The researchers placed microphones on 396 college students..."

What do I think? I think this research must have been sponsored either by the NSA or by Larry Flynt. :)

Seriously... people of either sex who have a tendency to talk too much should get a blog. Works for me.

(The study is intriguing, but there may be flaws in methodology... starting with choosing to monitor college students.); 7/6/07, 9:11 AM
ellroon said...: 'there may be flaws in methodology... starting with choosing to monitor college students'...

I wondered that myself. College kids might be overly talkative just because of who they are, their educational pursuits, the fact they are getting to know each other...

The complaint over women's conversations is often that it is more personal, emotional, and non-linear. So talking too much might actually mean talking so that guys lose their interest, their temper, and their time.....

But then that's a totally sexist thing to say....

(And whig, I like your wife more and more!); 7/6/07, 10:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Ellroon -

Then let's kill the next cliché now: left to their own devices men will grunt at each other about sports and sex, and the women will prattle about shoes and hair.

Regards,

Tengrain; 7/6/07, 4:06 PM
ellroon said...: Grunt and Prattle, Inc.

This has great potential...; 7/6/07, 4:29 PM