Selected linguistic sex differences during initial social interactions of same‐sex and mixed‐sex student dyads

Abstract

Effects of sex of speaker and sex of dyad partner on selected linguistic variables were examined in four‐minute segments of twenty conversations between previously unacquainted college students. Five male dyads, five female dyads, and ten mixed dyads were studied. Three significant interaction effects were found between sex of speaker and sex of partner or dyad compositions. Males and females produced about the same number of qualifying words (e.g., “maybe,”; “sort of) when talking to males, but males produced fewer and females produced more qualifying words when talking to females. Both males and females produced more false starts (a kind of nonfluency) when speaking to someone of their own sex than when speaking to someone of the opposite sex. Inequality between dyad members in number of words spoken was greater in female dyads than in male or mixed dyads. The results may suggest a more relaxed pattern of talk within same‐sex dyads, especially among women.