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Article published In: Pragmatics and Society
Vol. 17:1 (2026) ► pp.45–65

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Conflict, gender, and amount of talk

Gender differences in Spanish role play data

ORCiD logo with link | University of Alicante
ORCiD logo with link | University of HelsinkiHelsinki | University of Kassel
ORCiD logo with link | University of HelsinkiHelsinki
Published online: 24 March 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.23144.ucl
Abstract
The present paper examines whether speakers’ gender affects how much they talk in conflictive discourse in Spanish — measured through number of words and number and mean length of interventions. We analyse role play data simulating two conflictive situations with varying levels of proximity between the participants. In addition to comparing female and male informants, we use a sociopsychological questionnaire to measure the informants’ conformity with traditional gender roles. Informants’ age was also analysed as an exploratory variable.
We found that both gender and gender role conformity correlated with different measures of amount of talk. In general, men produced more words and more interventions than women, while women produced longer interventions, and this effect was stronger for more gender-conforming women. The observed gender differences are partially attributable to different orientations towards the resolution of the conflict and — unexpectedly — to men’s more frequent use of interactional features.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Gender differences in the amount of talk
  • 3.Research questions and hypotheses
  • 4.Data and methods
    • 4.1Data collection, informants and role plays
    • 4.2Data processing and statistical tests
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Number of words
    • 5.2Number of interventions
    • 5.3Average words per intervention
    • 5.4The interviewers’ role
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Contents of the role plays: Between conflict and collaboration
    • 6.2Gender and level of interaction
  • 7.Conclusions
  • References
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