Sex Differences

ChasM · **#21** by **ChasM** » Dec 10, 2010 12:31 pm

katja z wrote:
Mr Samsa wrote:
Yeah, kids were always better behaved back in the day. At the beginning of the human race, I imagine the children were simply perfect angels.

Theological fail. At the beginning of the human race, there were just two adults.

Yes, but Adam & EveTM begat Cain and Abel, and, as I recall, one of those boys wasn't exactly a perfect angel. :angel:

katja z · **#22** by **katja z** » Dec 10, 2010 12:43 pm

Mr.Samsa wrote:
Crocodile Gandhi wrote:I think it would be very dificult to gauge how much a person speaks in natural settings. I can be quite shy when I am around people I do not know and barely say anything. In contrast, with my close friends and my sisters I am unbelievebly talkative. I suppose that the same or similar is true for other people. My perceptions are probably influenced by other people's preferences for talking around me.

The studies I've read on this have varied in terms of how they've measured this; most attach the speaker with a 24/7 audio recorder and somebody transcribes what they say throughout an average day over the course of a few weeks. This obviously has the possible confound that people behave differently when being observed, but I imagine that given the naturalistic setting that this would be minimal.

From what I've read and heard of the research on oral language, the confound is indeed relatively small. People get used to the observation very quickly. Even a conversation elicited by the researcher in a semi-formal setting will soon flow quite "naturally" (judging from the recordings I've heard), and I would imagine that when their presence is even less intrusive - simply recording what is going on anyway - the effect is even further reduced. Obviously you should allow for this and not take data from the first minutes after you've pressed the "record" button.

katja z wrote:

Yeah, kids were always better behaved back in the day. At the beginning of the human race, I imagine the children were simply perfect angels.

Theological fail. At the beginning of the human race, there were just two adults.

Double theological fail. The original children of god were the angels, and they were designed by god to be perfect, hence "perfect angels".

Goalpost shifting. We were talking about human kids and the human race. :nono:

Also, another theological fail. The angels were not perfect, or they wouldn't have rebelled. :dance:

There's a difference between saying that the discrepancy is a product of perceived social status, and claiming that the discrepancy is a demonstration or assertion of social status.

True.

katja z · **#23** by **katja z** » Dec 10, 2010 12:45 pm

ChasM wrote:
katja z wrote:
Mr Samsa wrote:
Yeah, kids were always better behaved back in the day. At the beginning of the human race, I imagine the children were simply perfect angels.

Theological fail. At the beginning of the human race, there were just two adults.

Yes, but Adam & EveTM begat Cain and Abel, and, as I recall, one of those boys wasn't exactly a perfect angel.

ChasM · **#24** by **ChasM** » Dec 10, 2010 2:08 pm

So is there any credence to the factoid that women tend to talk not so much as to share information as to maintain feelings of connectedness and empathy (and so tend to discuss, say, a social situation to a greater degree), whereas men tend to focus on neutral subjects such as sports, sharing information in order to maintain their social connections? (Of course, this is dependent on cultural factors, not necessarily biological ones.)

Anecdotally, when I was married, I found our communication styles quite different: when discussing a problem, I immediately went to a solution, whereas my ex would simply want to talk about it (as a way of validating the emotional context, I suppose). When it comes to small talk, I'm pretty taciturn: if I'm going to engage in conversation, I prefer to talk about substantive topics rather than talk for the sake of talk. Thus I'm amazed at some of the conversations I overhear (yes, I'm unrepentant eavesdropper) at coffee shops, walking down the street following someone talking on a cell phone, etc. Perhaps this is a bias on my part, but women do tend to talk a bit more, often on what may seem trivialities, though in fact it's the meta-conversation that's the important issue.

archibald · **#25** by **archibald** » Dec 10, 2010 2:14 pm

katja z · **#26** by **katja z** » Dec 10, 2010 3:17 pm

ChasM wrote:So is there any credence to the factoid that women tend to talk not so much as to share information as to maintain feelings of connectedness and empathy (and so tend to discuss, say, a social situation to a greater degree), whereas men tend to focus on neutral subjects such as sports, sharing information in order to maintain their social connections? (Of course, this is dependent on cultural factors, not necessarily biological ones.)

I think there is. Again, from the book I quoted earlier: in mixed-sex discussion women and men seem to contribute different kinds of talk:

Researchers analysing the functions of different utterances have found that men tend to contribute more information and opinions, while women contribute more agreeing, supportive talk, more of the kind of talk that encourages others to contribute. So men's talke tends to be more referential or informative, while women's talk is more supportive and facilitative.

Anecdotally, I used to be fairly bad at "supportive talk", but trained myself to use it more, because I appreciate its functions in some situations.

Also anecdotally, I have noticed big differences even across Europe. Especially in Portugal, I have noticed that the man will do most of the talking for both him and his girlfriend/wife, and it is genuinely difficult sometimes to get the woman to give her opinion instead of the man giving it for her! I think I come across as much more assertive there than I do at home, not because I talk more, but because women in general talk less when in mixed company. A friend of mine who is married to a Portuguese has noticed the same among their own friends, and it has proven a real cultural shock.

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