Science Quiets Myth of 'Chatterbox' Females

According to Pennebaker, it's still possible that differences in verbalization between the sexes emerge as people age. And he said the study's focus on college students might also ignore behavioral differences between men and women based on social class.

But LaFrance believes that prevailing notions of the "female chatterbox" have cultural and political roots based in sexism.

"There's this prevailing idea that women are engaged in trivia, in minutia, silly patter," she said. On the other hand, stereotypical men are thought to hang back, silent, until they have something really important to say.

But study after study refutes these pat assumptions, the Yale expert said. For example, there's ample evidence that gossip is just as popular a topic of conversation (if not more so) among men as it is among women, LaFrance said.

However, it is true that women and men tend to favor distinct subject matter when they talk, she said.

"The data shows that women do tend to talk about relationships more," LaFrance said. And it's possible that this desire by women to better understand other people, most notably their partners, has given rise to certain stereotypes.

"If I were going to guess why people think women talk more, it would be that it probably comes from what happens during [romantic] conflict," Pennebaker said. "There have been some studies to suggest that during emotional conflict, guys get quiet and women talk more."

Even though the tendency of males to "clam up" in these private disputes doesn't carry over to other social contexts, people may generalize that men are withdrawn by nature, Pennebaker said.

LaFrance agreed. "One of the biggest complaints in heterosexual relationships that women have is the 'unforthcomingness' of their male partners," she said. "That may be where part of these stereotypes come from."

But the experts agreed that men can quickly become much more verbal when the mood strikes them.

In marital conflict situations, "the data shows that it dependswhatthey're talking about," LaFrance said.

"If she wants to talk about something that he cares about, then he will respond," she added.

And subject matter is also key, she noted: "Just get guys talking about sports or finance or lawnmowers -- then you've got another category of chatterboxes."

More information

Find about gender and the brain at the Society for Neuroscience.

SOURCES: James Pennebaker, Ph.D., professor and chair, department of psychology, University of Texas at Austin; Marianne LaFrance, Ph.D., professor, psychology and women's gender and sexuality studies, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.; July 6, 2007,Science