A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Arizona challenges the long-held stereotype that women are more talkative than men. The research, involving 2,197 volunteers aged between 10 and 64 years, found that while women speak slightly more words per day than men, the difference is minimal and not statistically meaningful.
The team collected and analyzed over 631,000 recordings to estimate the total number of words spoken per day by each participant According to O Globo. The participants wore devices that recorded their speech throughout the day, and transcribers counted the number of words spoken. The findings revealed that women speak an average of 13,349 words per day, while men speak about 11,950 words daily, creating a difference of approximately 1,073 words.
"There is not enough of a gap to say whether the observed difference between the sexes was significant or reliable," the researchers noted. The study found substantial individual differences in talkativeness among participants, with some individuals speaking fewer than 100 words daily and others speaking more than 120,000 words.
"Women are widely assumed to be more talkative than men," the experts stated in their article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Historically, women have had a reputation for being more talkative—a stereotype that often carries negative connotations. The authors further noted, "The ubiquity and often negative connotation of this stereotype makes evaluating its accuracy particularly important."
The research also examined age-related trends in conversational habits. Among adults aged 25 to 64, women spoke noticeably more than men by about 3,275 words a day. However, among teenagers and young people aged 10 to 24, the difference in conversational activity was minimal, with boys and girls speaking with almost equal intensity. In older age groups (65 years and above), the trend slightly changed, and men began to speak more than women.
The data showed that people in general have started to speak less compared to a 2007 study—by about 3,000 words a day. This discrepancy may be explained by the influence of stereotypes on self-perception of talkativeness. Self-assessments of conversational activity did not always match the actual data. Women more often considered themselves more talkative than they actually were.
The researchers found no connection between stress levels and conversational activity, challenging the common hypothesis that women speak more due to stress. This research not only debunks the myth of women's "talkativeness" but also emphasizes that conversational activity is determined not by gender but by age, social context, and individual characteristics. "The notion that women and men differ in their daily lexical budget has existed, largely untested empirically, for quite some time, and has become an omnipresent element in arguments about gender differences," the authors stated.
The study also addressed previous research on the topic. A 2007 study found that men and women do not differ in daily word usage, each speaking about 16,000 words per day. However, the sample size was limited, composed only of university students, raising questions about its accuracy. At the time, doubts were raised because the sample was not representative of the general population.
One of the specialists who supported the theory that women are more talkative was American neuropsychiatrist and clinician Dr. Louann Brizendine. Nearly two decades ago, she published the book "The Female Brain," which claimed that women devote more brain cells to talking than men. Brizendine linked this to the greater presence of the sex hormone testosterone in the male body affecting the brain. However, the researchers confirmed that the idea that women speak 20,000 words daily compared to 7,000 words for men, as presented in Brizendine's book, was not supported by reliable scientific evidence.
According to the Daily Mail, it later emerged that these figures were taken from a self-help book with no academic citation.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq