EBP Compendium: Summary of Systematic Review
Academic Senate and Social Sciences Division of the University of California, Santa Cruz
A Meta-Analytic Review of Gender Variations in Adults Language Use: Talkativeness, Affiliative Speech, and Assertive Speech
Leaper, C., & Ayres, M. M.
(2007).
Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(4), 328–363.
Indicators of Review Quality:
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The review addresses a clearly focused question
| Yes |
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Criteria for inclusion of studies are provided
| Yes |
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Search strategy is described in sufficient detail for replication
| No |
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Included studies are assessed for study quality
| Yes |
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Quality assessments are reproducible
| Yes |
Description: This is a series of three meta-analyses of studies examining gender variations in the talkativeness, affiliative speech, and assertive speech of adults.
Question(s) Addressed:
- "[T]o what extent do women and men differ in their language use?" (p. 333). The authors do separate meta-analyses for three aspects of language: talkativeness, affiliative speech, and assertive speech.
- "[W]hat types of factors moderate the incidence and magnitude of any observed gender effects?" (p. 333).
Population: Adults (not further specified)
Intervention/Assessment: Not applicable
Number of Studies Included: 90
Years Included: 1968–2004
Findings:
Conclusions:
The authors concluded that, "With all three language measures, the findings for the contextual moderators lend support to social constructionist models of gender to the extent that the incidence, the magnitude, and sometimes the direction of gender difference depended on particular situations" (p. 358).
Keywords:
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Added to Compendium: August 2010