View Full Version : Women talk three times as much as men, says study


*~ §EEK ~*
11-27-06, 11:31 PM
This ought to spark some discussion! LOL :D

BTW, I talk a lot and I'm a male, but then again I'm an ADHD male so maybe I'm different than most (normal) males.

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From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=419040&in_page_id=1879

Women talk three times as much as men, says study
By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 22:00pm on 27th November 2006

It is something one half of the population has long suspected - and the other half always vocally denied. Women really do talk more than men.

In fact, women talk almost three times as much as men, with the average woman chalking up 20,000 words in a day - 13,000 more than the average man.

Women also speak more quickly, devote more brainpower to chit-chat - and actually get a buzz out of hearing their own voices, a new book suggests.

The book - written by a female psychiatrist - says that inherent differences between the male and female brain explain why women are naturally more talkative than men.

In The Female Mind, Dr Luan Brizendine says women devote more brain cells to talking than men.

And, if that wasn't enough, the simple act of talking triggers a flood of brain chemicals which give women a rush similar to that felt by heroin addicts when they get a high.

Dr Brizendine, a self-proclaimed feminist, says the differences can be traced back to the womb, where the sex hormone testosterone moulds the developing male brain.

The areas responsible for communication, emotion and memory are all pared back the unborn baby boy.

The result is that boys - and men - chat less than their female counterparts and struggle to express their emotions to the same extent.

"Women have an eight-lane superhighway for processing emotion, while men have a small country road," said Dr Brizendine, who runs a female "mood and hormone" clinic in San Francisco.

There are, however, advantages to being the strong, silent type. Dr Brizendine explains that testosterone also reduces the size of the section of the brain involved in hearing - allowing men to become "deaf" to the most logical of arguments put forward by their wives and girlfriends.

But what the male brain may lack in converstation and emotion, they more than make up with in their ability to think about sex.

Dr Brizendine says the brain's "sex processor" - the areas responsible for sexual thoughts - is twice as big as in men than in women, perhaps explaining why men are stereotyped as having sex on the mind.

Or, to put it another way, men have an international airport for dealing with thoughts about sex, "where women have an airfield nearby that lands small and private planes".

Studies have shown that while a man will think about sex every 52 seconds, the subject tends to cross women's minds just once a day, the University of California psychiatrist says.

Dr Brizendine, whose book is based on her own clinical work and analyses of more than 1,000 scientific studies, added: "There is no unisex brain.

"Girls arrive already wired as girls, and boys arrive already wired as boys. Their brains are different by the time they're born, and their brains are what drive their impulses, values and their very reality.

"I know it is not politically correct to say this but I've been torn for years between my politics and what science is telling us.

"I believe women actually perceive the world differently from men.

"If women attend to those differences they can make better decisions about how to manage their lives."

Other scientists, however, are sceptical about the effects of testosterone on the brain and say many of the differences between the male and female personality can be explained by social conditioning, with a child's upbringing greatly influencing their character.

Deborah Cameron, an Oxford University linguistics professor with a special interest in language and gender, said the amount we talk is influenced by who we are with and what we are doing.

She added: "If you aggregate a large number of studies you will find there is little difference between the amount men and women talk."

Already available in the US, The Female Brain will be available in the UK from April.

Crazy~Feet
11-28-06, 12:16 AM
Well now who didn't know THAT, Mr Seek? :D

PS User title, ahem, cough cough, user title...

Tracy H.
11-28-06, 03:11 AM
talk, talk talk..yep, we sure can talk :-)

Nova
11-28-06, 01:34 PM
I talk a lot. (0:
But then again..there are times where I don't.

It all depends on the 'company' I'm with.

All my closest friends, guys and gals, are gabbers, though..so I'm in good company, when I do.

Grade A
11-28-06, 04:01 PM
Yep I agree....when in company where I am able to. I am a chatterbox :)

And I laugh and chuckle a lot.

*~ §EEK ~*
11-28-06, 08:02 PM
As my Grandmother use to say...."Some birds just need to sing more than others!" :D

Nova
11-28-06, 10:08 PM
That's cute you mention that Seek...
The people, who've told me to 'shut the hades up', seem to be the people whom I'm not close to.

sosninity
11-29-06, 12:23 AM
I talk too much most of the time.
But not at all other times.
I thought talkativeness was related to ADD and ADHD, especially in females, to the point of taking the place of the "H" part, thus masking the condition in childhood to teachers and parents.
The most interesting thing was that talking is perceived as pleasurable.

Tracy H.
11-29-06, 01:28 AM
As my Grandmother use to say...."Some birds just need to sing more than others!" :D:D :D LOL..you say all the right things:p

ChloeDharma
11-29-06, 07:18 AM
Ok, to be a bit controversial...i have always suspected the quality of conversation between women to be higher! ;)
I do talk alot....in fact as long as there's somebody to listen i'll rattle on and on....and i get a HUGE amount of pleasure from talking....if i go without a conversation for a little while i start to crave it.
Like somebody else said i think...i assumed it was an AD/HD thing.

Matt S.
11-29-06, 12:26 PM
Does anyone remember that old 90's show Blossom... well I am a man but the character "Six" was a girl who well "often talked excessively" and I put her to shame as a kid... it has gotten worse in age for me

Desert Dweller
11-29-06, 01:24 PM
Does anyone remember that old 90's show Blossom... well I am a man but the character "Six" was a girl who well "often talked excessively" and I put her to shame as a kid... it has gotten worse in age for meI loved that show! -- Maybe now that you are older you have more knowledge to share!

I talk a lot to people I am comfortable with. But there are a lot of times that I have to tell myself not to speak becuase I am afraid of saying the wrong thing. Like - with my husband about his daughter!

So in those situations I am not speaking out loud but I am sure having a conversation with my self in my head! :D

fasttalkingmom
11-29-06, 05:41 PM
I can't imagine this to be true.... ;)

*~ §EEK ~*
11-29-06, 11:19 PM
I can't imagine this to be true.... ;) You don't talk alot, just fast right? :D

SolarLife
11-30-06, 01:42 AM
When you get me going I can talk your ear off, but other times I get get quiet and pensive.

I've noticed since starting Adderall I talk a lot more because I am more comfortable with people and don't have the old social fears.

OK.

SL :)

fasttalkingmom
11-30-06, 05:22 AM
You don't talk alot, just fast right? :D


Oh yes that's right ;)

nzkiwi
12-08-06, 01:36 AM
I think a person's personality, has more to do with how much they talk, than their sex. Men in general probably tend to talk less than Woman, three times less, I doubt it. Men tend to stay away from gossip, as it is not a manly thing to do. I have also met men who like to hear the sound of their own voice, sometimes I feel like I fall in that category. I personally like to sit down and have a good yarn from time to time. The doctor states that men struggle to communicate emotion, which is true, but our society tends socialize Men not to. If I said "i feel really crampy and emotional today" my friends, including female friends, would look at me funny and laugh. Men and Woman are different, but not as different as this study suggests.:D I like the fact that the sexes are different, it makes dating more interesting.