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Dunbar, Duncan, and Marriot. 1997. Human conversational behavior

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  • 5/21/2018 Dunbar, Duncan, And Marriot. 1997. Human Conversational Behavior - slidepd...

    http:///reader/full/dunbar-duncan-and-marriot-1997-human-conversational-beh

    H U M N CONVE RS T I ON L B EH VIOR

    R I M D u n b a r

    a n d A n n a M a r r i o t t

    University of Liverpool

    N D C D u n c a n

    University College London

    Observational studies of human conversations in relaxed social settings

    suggest that these consist predo mi nan tly of exchanges of social inform a-

    tion (m ostly concerning personal relationships a nd experiences). Most of

    these exchanges involve information about the speaker or th ird par t ies ,

    and very few involve critical comments or the soliciting or giving of

    advice. Although a policing function may stil l be important (e.g. , for

    controlling social cheats), i t seems th at this d oes not often involve overt

    criticism of other individuals ' behavior. The few significant differences

    between the sexes in the proportion of conversation time devoted to

    particular topics are interpre ted as reflecting females ' concerns with net-

    work ing a nd males ' concerns with se lf-display in what am ount to a con-

    ventional mating lek.

    r,EY WORDS: C on ver sat ion al topics ; H um an s; Lan gua ge evo luti on;

    Reproductive strategies; Sex differences.

    D e s p i t e t h e f u n d a m e n t a l i m p o r t a n c e o f l a n g u a g e i n h u m a n s o ci et ie s,

    t h e re h a s b e e n su rp r i s in g ly l i t t l e r e se a rc h o n w h a t p e o p le t a lk a b o u t i n

    i n f o r m a l s oc ia l s i t ua t i o n s. A n u m b e r o f e a r ly s t u d i e s e a v e s d r o p p e d o n

    th e c o n v e r sa t io n s o f p a s se r sb y o n b u sy c i ty s t r e e t s o r i n p u b l ic b a r s

    (Landis and Bur t t 1924; Moore 1922) . These s tud ies sugges ted tha t top ics

    o f c o n v e r s a t i o n d e p e n d e d o n t h e s ex of t h e p a r ti c i p an t s . M a l e - m a l e

    c o n v e r s a t i o n s f o c u s e d p r e d o m i n a n t l y (50% o f d y a d s ) o n b u s i n e s s , w i t h

    Received Oct ober 1, 1996; accep ted F ebrua ry 16, 1997.

    Address all correspondence to R. I. M. Dunbar Department of Psychology University of

    Liverpool Eleanor Rathbone Building Bedford St South Liverpool L69 7ZA England.

    E-mail: [email protected] uk

    Copyright 9 1997 by W alter de Gruyter, Inc., New York

    Hum an Nature, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 231-246. 1045-6767/97/$1.00 + .10

    231

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    232 Hu man Natu re, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1997

    spor ts / le isure (ca. 15 ) an d the beha vior of oth er males (ca. 12 ) bein g

    the n ext mo st favo red topics . In contrast , a l l - female con vers at ion s fo-

    cused p red om inan t ly on m en (22-44 o f conve rsa ti ons) , w i th clo thes

    (ca. 20 ) an d othe r w o m en (ca. 15 ) as the next mo st favo red topics. In

    mixed-sex dya ds , speakers fo l lowed mo re or less the same pa t te rn , ex-

    cept that male speakers ta lked more about le isure/sport act ivi t ies (ca.

    25 ) than about bus iness (ca. 20 ), and about them selves ra ther than

    o the r men . Wo men speake r s show ed a more s t r ik ing sh i ft in conve r sa -

    t ion t op ic i n mixed sex g roups , and mu ch l e ss cons i s t ency be tw een

    s tudies , wi th l e i sure pursui t s , c lo th ing , themselves , o ther men, and

    oth er w om en a ll fea tur ing on the l is t of prefer red topics .

    There have been a number of a t t empts to repl ica te the ear ly

    Moore/Landis studies (for a review, see Bischoping 1993). Kipers (1987),

    for examp le , rep or ted a grea te r f requen cy of male conversa t ions con-

    ce rned w i th ho me and f ami ly a ff ai rs t han had been n o t ed i n t he 1920

    s tudies a nd sugg es ted tha t th is d i f fe rence re flect s sh if t s in social norm s

    over the years . H owe ver , w he n Bischoping (1993) cont ro l led for context

    and s i tuat ion , sh e obta ined resul ts tha t were gen era l ly in line wi th tho se

    of the ear ly s tudies . McC ormick and McC ormick (1992) ana lyzed und er -

    grad uate e lec tronic mai l mess ages an d repo r ted a s imi lar ly h igh co ncen-

    tratio n on social topics (51.7 of al l me ssage s). Of thes e, abo ut half

    (27.6 of a ll mes sages ) we re classif ied as int imate. Taken as a wh ole ,

    then , soc ia l topics seem to predom inate , i r respec t ive of the loca tion and

    social composi t ion of the sample.

    As ide f rom thi s hand fu l o f st ud ie s , h oweve r , mos t r ecen t s t ud i es have

    t end ed t o focus on t he wa y in which conve r sa t ions a r e enac t ed o r man-

    ag ed rath er t ha n the topics discuss ed (e .g. , Aries 1976; Beat tie 1983;

    Ne lson 1988; see reviews in C oates 1993, Eakins a nd Eakins 1978). These

    s tud ie s have t ended t o emp has i ze t he fact t ha t m en and w om en co nduc t

    themse lves i n d if f e ren t way s wh en conve r s ing , w i th m en be ing m ore

    gladia toria l an d w om en be ing mo re in te rac t ive and suppor t ive . In mixe d

    sex conve r sa ti ons , me n have been found t o i n t e r rup t wom en m ore o f t en

    than v ice versa and to dominate (or l ead) the topics of conversa t ion

    (Zim me rm an and West 1975). O the r s t ud i e s have sugg es t ed t ha t wo m-

    en ' s ve rbal behav io r t ends t o be evoca t i ve / emot iona l whe reas me n ' s

    tend s to be mo re fac tua l (Wood 1966); wo m en ' s speech a lso tend s to be

    m or e conci lia tory, of te n involving th e us e of mor e lau ghte r (Coser 1960;

    Prov ine 1993). Coates (1994, 1996), for example, has sh ow n th at w om -

    en ' s conve rsa t ions t end to flow more sm ooth ly in tha t they involve less

    explici t turn- tak ing an d mo re re info rcem ent of the cu r rent speake r ' s

    u t te rances .

    In most cases , these s tudies have focused on formal workplace con-

    text s or on cont r ived s i tua tions . By com par i son w i th the w eal th of da ta

    on soc io l inguist ics (word use a nd pron uncia t ion pa t te rns : see reviews in

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    Human Conversat ional Behavior 233

    Bea t ti e 1983 ; Co a t e s 1993; M i lroy 1980 , 1987) , t he n um be r o f s t ud i e s t h a t

    h a v e f o c u s e d o n t h e c o n t e n t o f c o n v e r s a t i o n s i n r e la x e d s o c ia l s e t t in g s i s

    v e r y s m a l l i n d e e d : B i s c h o p i n g (1 99 3) l is ts j u s t s e v e n , i n c l u d i n g h e r o w n ,

    s i n c e t h e o r i g i n a l M o o r e / L a n d i s s t u d i e s . M o r e o v e r , w h a t s t u d i e s t h e r e

    h a v e b e e n s in c e M o o r e ' s c la ss ic w o r k h a v e t e n d e d t o b e m o t i v a t e d b y t h e

    p o l i t i c s o f g e n d e r r o l e s r a t h e r t h a n t h e f u n c t i o n s t h a t l a n g u a g e s u b -

    se rves i n soc i e t y a s a w ho l e .

    Th e s t r i k i ng r ecen t excep t i on has b een t he w ork o f Em l e r (1992 , 1994) ,

    w h o s a m p l e d c o n v e r s a t i o n to p ic s i n a n u m b e r o f s it u at io n s . H e r e p o r t e d

    t h a t a p p r o x i m a t e ly 70% o f c o n v e r s a t io n t im e w a s t a k e n u p w i t h w h a t h e

    t e r m s g o s s i p ( b ro a d ly d e f i n e d a s t h e i n fo r m a l e x c h a n g e o f i n f o r m a t i o n

    a b o u t c o n t e m p o r a r y s o c ia l e v e n t s , i n c l u d i n g t h e b e h a v i o r a n d c h a ra c te r

    o f e i th e r t h e s p e a k e r o r o f t h i r d p a r t ie s n o t p r e s e n t ). E m l e r (1 9 92 ) h a s

    a r g u e d t h a t t h e p r i m a r y f u n c t i o n s o f c o n v e r s a t io n a re t o p r o v i d e p e o p l e

    w i t h t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h e y n e e d i n o r d e r t o c o p e w i t h e v e r y d a y s o c ia l lif e

    a n d t o m a n a g e r e p u t a t i o n s .

    E m l e r' s f in d i n g s a r e r e l e v a n t t o a r g u m e n t s f o r th e s o ci al f u n c t i o n o f

    i n t e l lec t i n p r i m a t e s (B ro t he r s 1989 ; Byrn e 1995; Byrn e an d W hi t en 1988) ,

    a s w e l l a s b e i n g c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t h e s u g g e s t i o n t h a t t h e c a p a c it y f o r

    l a n g u a g e m a y h a v e e v o l v e d t o f a c i l i t a t e t h e m o r e r a p i d a n d / o r w i d e r

    d i s s e m i n a t i o n o f s o c i a l i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h i n t h e r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e g r o u p s

    c h a r a ct e ri st ic o f m o d e m h u m a n s ( D u n b a r 1 99 3). T h i s m a y b e e s p e c ia l ly

    i m p o r t a n t i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e f r ee r id e r p r o b l e m ( p e o p l e w h o g e t t h e

    b e n e f i t s o f s o c i e ty b u t d o n ' t p a y t h e c o s ts ). E n q u i s t a n d L e i m a r (1 99 3)

    h a v e p o i n t e d o u t t h a t c o n t r o l o f fr e e r id e r s is t h e m o s t s i g n i f ic a n t p r o b -

    l e m w i th w h i c h h u m a n s i n t h e ir la rg e s o cia l g r o u p s h a v e t o c o p e ( s e e

    a l s o C o s m i d e s 1 9 8 9 ) , a n d t h a t l a n g u a g e ( o r g o s s i p ) m a y b e a p o w e r f u l

    m e c h a n i s m f o r c o n t r o l l in g th e i r a c ti vi ti es . I n t h i s r e sp e c t , t h e m a n a g e -

    m e n t o f r e p u t a t i o n s m a y b e e s p e c ia l ly i m p o r t a n t ( E m l e r 1 9 9 0 , 1 99 2).

    I n o r d e r t o e x p l o r e t h e s e i s s u e s i n m o r e d e t a i l , w e c a r r i e d o u t t h r e e

    s t u d i e s o n t h e c o n t e n t o f c o n v e r s a ti o n s . T h e f ir st t w o w e r e d e s i g n e d t o

    a s c e r t a i n t h e b r o a d p a t t e r n s o f c o n v e r s a t i o n a l t o p i c s i n t w o d i f f e r e n t

    a g e /s o c ia l g r o u p s ( s t u d e n t s a n d o l d e r w o r k i n g a d u lt s) . T h e t h i r d s t u d y

    e x p l o r e d i n m o r e d e t a il t h e f u n c t i o n s o f l a n g u a g e i n t h e s o cia l d o m a i n . I f

    l a n g u a g e e v o l v e d t o a l lo w i n d i v i d u a l s t o f u n c t i o n m o r e e f fe c ti v e ly w i t h -

    i n l a rge soc i a l g roups , t he re a re a t l e a s t t h ree w ays t h i s cou l d w ork :

    a )

    e x c h a n g e o f in f o r m a t io n a b o u t t h e s p e a k e r 's o r s o m e o n e e l se 's b e h a v -

    i o r o r r e l a t i on sh i ps (Em l e r 1994), b ) p r o v i s i o n o f a d v ic e o n h o w t o h a n -

    d l e s o c ia l s it u a t io n s b e y o n d t h e l i m i t e d e x p e r i e n c e o f a s i n g l e i n d i v i d u a l

    (Su ls 1977), an d c ) n e g a t i v e g o s s i p i n t e n d e d a s a n i n f o r m a l p o l i c i n g

    dev i ce (Enqu i s t and Le i m ar 1993) .

    O u r e m p h a s i s w a s q u i t e e x p l i c i t l y o n w h a t p e o p l e t a l k a b o u t i n r e -

    l a x e d s oc ia l s e t ti n g s , a n d h o w t h e s e t o p i c s a r e in f l u e n c e d b y t h e c o m p o -

    s i t i o n o f t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n a l g r o u p . H u m a n c o n v e r s a t i o n s c a n d i f f e r

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    234 Hum an Nature, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1997

    radica l ly both in the i r func t ion and in the i r content , depending on the

    context . Our concern is not with instructional set t ings or those s i tua-

    t ions in which new acquaintances a t tempt to ge t to know each o ther .

    These are special cases that have their own intrinsic interest . Our con-

    cern , ra ther, i s wi th conversa t ions tha t take p lace be tw een individuals

    wh o a l ready know each o the r we l l - - the k ind o f re lat ionsh ip one m igh t

    expect to f ind in the small -scale comm uni t ie s typica l of mos t of h um an

    evolutio nary his tory.

    M E T H O S

    The da ta repor ted here der ive f rom three separa te samples . Nine teen

    conv ersat io ns ( involving 27 female subjects and 24 male subjects) we re

    sampled by ND in a London univers i ty cafe te r ia dur ing the midday

    period (group s ize ranged from 2 to 7 individuals) . The subjects were

    mainly s tudents in the age range 18-25 years . In order to explore the

    cont ent of conversa t ions in mo re de ta il , a fu r ther s ix teen conversa t ions

    were mo ni to red by AM in a Liverpool univers i ty cafeter ia . Th ese conver-

    sat ions involved five s ingle-sex dyads of each sex and s ix mixed-sex

    dyads. Subjects were again s tudents . Finally, ten conversat ions were

    m on ito red by RD in public places (mainly bars an d trains) in order to

    obtain a nonstudent sample. In this case, the subjects (11 males , 12

    females ) were mainly yo un g to middle-a ged adul ts (approximate ly 25-

    50 years o ld) whose employment (as judged f rom the i r conversa t ions)

    ranged f rom bus ines sm en to teache rs and housewives .

    In select ing conversat ions for observation, we tr ied to ensure that a)

    the par t ic ipants were not s t rangers to each o ther (as judged by the

    genera l tone of the conversa t ion) and

    b)

    the f low of conversa t ion was

    relaxed and informal. In each case, the observe r was po sit ione d as close

    to the conversa t iona l group as poss ib le wi thout be ing in t rus ive . The

    observer focused on the speaker ( there be ing no rmal ly a s ingle speaker

    at any one t ime d ur ing a conversat ion: see Du nba r et a l. 1995). To assess

    the conte nt of conversa t ions , the genera l topic of the speaker s u t-

    te rances was scored as an ins tanta neou s scan sample taken a t 30-second

    interva ls : the topic of conversa t ion a t the moment of the sample was

    judge d by the immedia te ly p reced ing pe r iod o f conve rsa tion . The ND

    and AM samples were in i t ia l ly taped. However , taped conversa t ions

    pro ved di ff icul t to ana lyze ow ing to a combinat ion of back grou nd noise

    and the fact tha t the d i rec tiona l mic roph one s of ten only p icked up the

    speaker d i rect ly fac ing the micropho ne; taping was therefore aba nd on ed

    in favor of direct auditory monitoring.

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    Human Conversational Behavior

    Table 1 Categories Used in Classifying Conversations

    235

    Category Definition

    Personal relationships

    Personal experiences

    Future social activity

    Future nonsocial activity

    Sport/leisure

    Culture/art/music

    Politics

    Religion/morals/ethics

    Work/academic

    Technical/instructional

    Personal experiences rising from social events,

    social relationships and actual behavior in social

    situations and the emotional experiences

    involved

    Factual experiences, eve nts and circum stances as

    experienced by the speaker or a third party,

    including emotional responses to these

    experiences

    Arrangements for meetings that will involve social

    interaction e.g. dates, dance s)

    Arrangements for meetings/events whe re social

    interaction is not the principal consideration

    e.g., sports events, visits to museums or

    business locations)

    Comments on sports or leisure/hobby that relate to

    the activity rathe r than the social/emotional life

    of the personalities/individuals involved

    Any comments or value judgements on the arts in

    the widest sense

    Comments on current or past political events but

    not personal lives of individuals concerned

    Impersonal or judgmental comments on any aspect

    of religion or morality in the abstract or on

    religious/moral practice

    All topics related to technical asp ects of work e.g.,

    attempts to explain concepts and arguments)

    Attempts to explain how things work or how to

    locate particular places

    O n average , each sub jec t spok e fo r a to ta l o f 11.0 min u tes pe r conver -

    sa t ion mea n o f 22 .0 scan samp les fo r f emales and 19 .7 scan sample s fo r

    males , r ange 3 -51 scans ) in the ND sample , 9 .6 min u tes 19.25 scans ,

    range 4 -4 9 scans ) in the AM sample , and 9 .1 minu tes 18.3 scans , r ange

    3-59 scans) in the RD sample . A ny pa r t i c ipan t w ho spok e fo r l e s s than 3

    min u tes 6 scan samples ) w as exc luded f rom the analys is .

    T h e me t h o d o l o g y a d o p t e d i n t h i s s t u d y d i f f e r s f r o m t h a t a d o p t e d i n

    a ll p rev io us s tud ies . Thos e s tud ies have invar iab ly t r ea ted the conversa -

    t ion as the u n i t o f ana lys i s and c lass if i ed the conversa t ion as a w ho le as

    be ing in a pa r t i cu la r ca tegory . We have sampled ind iv idua l conversa -

    t ions in g rea te r dep th in o rde r to de te rm ine the p ropor t io n o f t ime

    devo ted to d i f fe ren t top ics by ind iv idua l speakers .

    The top ic o f conversa t ion was c lass i f i ed in to one o f four teen major

    subje ct areas Table 1). We del ineat ed the topics a pr ior i so as to ref lec t

    f u n c ti o n a ll y r e l ev a n t c a t eg o ri e s. Ho w e v e r , s o me c a t e g o r ie s we r e a d d e d

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    236 H um an Na ture, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1997

    a s t h e f ir st ( N D ) s t u d y p r o g r e s s e d . I n th e N D a n d R D s t u d i es , u t t e r a n c e s

    a b o u t a n i n d i v i d u a l ' s b e h a v i o r a s w e l l a s t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n w h i c h

    h e / s h e w a s i n v o l v e d a r e l u m p e d u n d e r t h e si ng le h e a d i n g o f r e la t io n -

    s h i p s : o u r i n t e r e s t h e r e i s p r i m a r i ly in t h e e x c h a n g e o f i n f o r m a t i o n

    c o n c e r n i n g a n i n d i v id u a l 's s o c ia l b e h a v i o r i n t h e b r o a d s e n s e . I n t h e A M

    s a m p l e , h o w e v e r , a n a t t e m p t w a s m a d e to d i ff e re n t ia t e b e t w e e n t h e

    d i f f e re n t u s e s to w h i c h s oc ia l i n f o r m a t i o n e x c h a n g e m i g h t b e p u t , a n d a

    f i n e r d i v i s i o n o f s o ci al c a t e g o r ie s in t o p o s i t i v e / n e u t r a l a n d n e g a t i v e c o m -

    m e n t s o n t h i r d p a r t i e s , t h e s o l ic i ti n g / g iv i n g o f a d v i c e o n s o ci al m a t t e r s ,

    a n d d i s c u s s i o n s o f h y p o t h e t i c a l s oc ia l s i tu a t i o n s w a s u s e d . I n t h e f e w

    c a s e s w h e r e t h e t o p i c o f c o n v e r s a t i o n c o u l d h a v e b e e n c l a s s i f i e d i n a

    n u m b e r o f p o ss ib l e c a t e g o ri e s, t h e o b s e r v e r w a s f o r c e d t o m a k e a s i n g le

    c h o i c e b a s e d o n i n t e r p r e ta t i o n o f t h e s p e a k e r ' s i n t e n t io n s . W e e n d e a v -

    o r e d t o e n s u r e s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n o f c l a s s i f i c a t i o n i n t h e t h r e e s a m p l e s b y

    d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s io n o f d e f i n it io n s a s t h e s t u d i e s p r o g r e s s e d . H o w e v e r , i n

    g e n e r a l , o b s e r v e r s e x p e r i e n c e d l it tl e d i ff i c u lt y i n c a t e g o r i z i n g t h e t o p i c

    o f c o n v e r s a t i o n .

    R S U L T S

    T a b l e 2 p r e s e n t s t h e d a t a o n c o n v e r s a t i o n t o p i c f o r t h e 8 3 s u b j e c t s r e -

    c o r d e d i n t h e t h r e e s a m p l e s w h o s e r e c o r d s s a t i s f i e d t h e c r i t e r i o n o f a t

    l e a s t s ix s c a n s a m p l e s . O n l y t h e o v e r a l l f r e q u e n c y o f c o n v e r s a t i o n t o p i c s

    f o r e a c h s e x i s s h o w n . I n g e n e r a l , a s u r p r i s i n g l y h i g h p r o p o r t i o n o f

    c o n v e r s a t i o n t i m e ( a v e r a g e s o f 5 5.0 % f o r m a l e s a n d 6 6 .7 % f o r f e m a l e s )

    w a s d e v o t e d t o d i s c u s s i o n o f s o c ia l ly r e l e v a n t t o p i cs ( r e l a t io n s h i p s a n d

    e x p e r i e n c e s ) , w i t h a f u r t h e r 4 - 5 % d e v o t e d t o a r r a n g e m e n t s f o r f u t u r e

    s oc i a l ac t i v i t i e s . R e l a t i ve l y s ma l l quan t i t i e s o f conve r s a t i on t i me w er e

    d e v o t e d t o s u c h m a t t e r s a s s p o r t ( o v e r a ll m e a n o f 8.7 % ), p o l it ic s a n d

    r e l i g i on (2 .9%), cu l t u r e an d a r t (3 .9%), a nd aca dem i c o r w or k - r e l a t ed

    topics (13.5%).

    T h e r e a r e s u r p r i s in g l y f e w d i f fe r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e s a m p l e p o p u l a -

    t io n s , a s i d e f r o m t h e g r e a t e r e m p h a s i s o n s p o r t a n d l e i s u re a c ti v it ie s i n

    t h e n o n s t u d e n t R D s a m p l e ( c o n f i r m i n g t h e e a r l i e r f i n d i n g s b y M o o r e

    [1 92 2] a n d L a n d i s a n d B u r t t [1 9 24 ]) a n d t h e s u g g e s t i o n t h a t p e r s o n a l

    r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e c o m e a l e s s i m p o r t a n t t o p i c o f c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h a g e ,

    p a r t i c u l a r l y f o r m a l e s . O l d e r m a l e s ( s a m p l e R D ) d e v o t e d a s i g n i f ic a n t l y

    s m a l l e r p r o p o r t i o n o f th e i r soci l c o n v e r s a t i o n t i m e t o p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n -

    s h i p s t h a n y o u n g e r m a l e s d i d ( M a n n W h i t n e y te s ts o n i n d i v id u a l s u b -

    j ec t s : w i t h s amp l e N D ma l e s , z = 2 . 251 , P = 0 . 024 ; w i t h s amp l e A M

    m ale s , z = 2.491, P = 0.013; nl = 8, n 2 22 in ea ch case , a l l P- va lue s tw o-

    tai led) .

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    Human Conversational Behavior

    Table 2.

    Distribution of Conv ersat ion Topics for the Thr ee Sam ples

    237

    Percent of Speaking Time

    Sample ND Sample AM Sample RD

    Speaker s Sex: ma le fema le ma le fema le ma le fema le

    Per son al re lat io ns hip st 35.1 41.2 49.5 46.1 15.3 37.5

    Per son al ex pe rie nce s 23.1 24.3 16.9 19.4 25.1 31.5

    Futu re social activity 6.4 9.0 4.0 2.8 2.9 2.4

    Fut ure non soc ial activity 4:2 2.9 4.2 3.1 1.1 5.4

    Sp or t/le isu re 4.4 3.7 2.0 3.0 25.1 13.7

    Cu ltur e/ar t/m usi c 4.6 4.7 3.2 10.6 0 0

    Politics 2.6 2.2 0.2 1.9 1.7 0

    Re ligio n/m ora ls/et hics 0.4 1.8 4.4 1.8 0.6 0

    W ork/ acad em ic 12.6 9.3 18.9 7.8 19.4 6.5

    Tec hnic al/ins truc tiona l 6.4 0.8 0 0 8.0 1.8

    Total sample:~ 453 614 275 341 175 168

    Nu m be r of subjects 24 27 16 16 10 9

    Nu m ber of 19 16 9

    conversa t ions

    tInc ludes comments on behavior as w ell as relationships in the m ore conventional

    sense.

    :~Number of scan samples taken at 30-second intervals.

    A c o m p a r i s o n o f v a l u e s f o r i n d i v i d u a l s u b j e c ts s h o w s n o s i g n i f ic a n t

    d i f f er e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e t w o s e xe s in t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f c o n v e r s a t i o n

    t i m e d e v o t e d t o p e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e s i n g e n e r a l ( all r e l a t i o n s h i p s a n d

    ex pe r i e nc es com bin ed : sam ple ND , z = 0 .349 , n l = 22 , n 2 = 27, P =

    0 .726; sa m pl e AM , z = 0 .726, n I = n 2 = 15, P = 0 .468; sa m pl e RD, z =

    0 .985, n 1 = 7 , n 2 = 8 , P = 0 .325, a l l P-va lue s tw o-t a i le d) or in th e

    p r o p o r t i o n o f all s oc ia l to p i c c o n v e r s a t i o n t h a t c o n c e r n s t h e s p e a k e r s

    o w n p e r s o n a l e x p e r i e n c e s ( as o p p o s e d t o o t h e r p e o p l e s ) ( s a m p l e N D : z

    = 1 .48 , P = 0 .139; sa m pl e AM : z = 1 .162, P = 0 .288; sa m pl e RD: z =

    0 .463 , P = 0 .643 ; a ll P -v a lue s two- t a i l ed ) . O n ly in the case o f wo rk / aca -

    d e m i c t o p i c s w a s t h e r e a s i g ni f ic a n t d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t h e s e xe s : ty p -

    ic ally , m a l e s d e v o t e d m o r e o f t h e i r c o n v e r s a t i o n t i m e t o t h is t o p i c t h a n

    females d id ( sample ND: z = 1 .385 , P = 0 .166 ; sample AM: z = 3 .815 , P

    < 0 .001; sa m pl e RD: z = 2 .323, P = 0 .020; a l l P- va lue s two-ta i led ; pool -

    i n g P -v a l u e s u s i n g F i s h e r s m e t h o d [ s e e S o k a l a n d R o l f 1 96 9] y i e l d s X2 =

    2 5 .2 3 1, d f = 6 , P ~ 0 .0 01 ). T h e a p p a r e n t d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e i n s t ru c t i o n -

    a l / te c h n i c a l c a t e g o r y is p r o b a b l y r ea l, i n t h a t it s u p p o r t s t h e w i d e s p r e a d

    p e r c e p t i o n t h a t m a l e s t e n d t o d o m i n a t e c o n v e r s a t i o n s w h e n i n s t ru c t i on

    i s c a l l e d fo r ( s e e E a k i n s a n d E a k i n s 1 97 8) , b u t t h e s e x d i f f e r e n c e h e re i s

    o b s c u r e d b y l a r ge n u m b e r s o f z e r o v a lu e s . F o r n o o t h e r t o p i c s l is t e d in

    T a b le 2 w e re t h e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e s e x e s s ta t is t ic a l ly s i g n i f ic a n t .

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    238 H um an Nat ure, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1997

    Table 3. Influence of Sex of Speaker and Audience on Topics of Conversat ion

    Mean Speaking Time ( )I

    Speaker: Females Males

    Group Type: Al l-female Mixed All-male Mixed

    A. Sample ND London)

    Person al relationships: ow n 18.3 18.5 31.0 20.6

    ot he r' s 19.3 21.9 16.4 12.4

    ge ne ra l 3.1 0.6 2.6 1.1

    Per son al expe rienc es: ow n 20.3 15.5 21.6 13.8

    other's 6.6 6.1 7.8 7.9

    Futu re social activity 11.0 7.0 0 7.6

    Futu re non soc ial activity 1.7 4.0 9.5 2.5

    Spo rt/leisu re 2.4 4.9 1.7 4.0

    Cultu re/politics/r eligion 8.2 9.2 3.5 7.7

    Aca dem ic ma tters 9.0 12.5 6.0 22.3

    N um be r of subjects 11 16 7 17

    B. Sam ple AM Liverpool)

    Per son al relatio nshi ps: ow n 23.1 14.9 20.0 24.3

    oth er's 21.4 26.4 25.3 16.6

    gen era l 4.3 4.2 3.1 3.7

    Per son al exp erie nce s 21.4 23.8 11.2 21.9

    Futu re social activity 2.7 1.4 5.2 2.5

    Futu re non soc ial activity 1.7 5.9 5.7 3.7

    Spo rt/leisur e 2.4 3.0 1.7 2.5

    Cu ltur e/po litics /reli gio n 13.5 7.5 0 15.9

    Ac ade m ic m atte rs 10.1 10.1 27.9 8.9

    Nu m ber of subjects 10 5 9 6

    tMean of values for each individual sampled.

    T h e r e w a s a s i g n if i c an t s e x d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f c o n v e r s a -

    t io n t i m e d e v o t e d t o s o ci al r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t c o n c e r n e d t h e s p e a k e r ' s

    o w n r e l a t i o n s h i p s ( a s o p p o s e d t o o t h e r p e o p l e ' s ) i n s a m p l e N D ( m a l e s

    s p e n t 6 5 .4 % o f t h e t im e t a l k in g a b o u t r e l a t i o n s h i p s d i s c u s s i n g t h e i r o w n

    c o m p a re d w i t h 4 1 . 9% fo r f e ma l e s : M a n n W h i t n e y t e s t, z = 2 .8 2 7, n 1 =

    22 , n 2 = 27 , P = 0 .004 , two- t a i l ed ) , b u t no t i n t he o the r two sam ple s

    (sa m ple AM : m ale s 46 .0% v s fem ale s 51 .6%, z = 0 .481, n 1 = 14, n2 = 15 ,

    P = 0 .630; sa m pl e R D: mal es 0% vs fe m ale s 15 .6%, z = 1 .215, n~ = 2 , n 2

    = 7, P = 0.224).

    S i n c e f e m a l e s h a v e b e e n r e p o r t e d t o f o l l o w m a l e l e a d s i n c o n v e r s a -

    t i o n s i n m i x e d - s e x g r o u p s , t h e d a t a f o r s a m p l e s N D a n d A M w e r e r e -

    a n a l y z e d s e p a r a t e l y f o r s i n gl e - se x a n d m i x e d g r o u p s ( Ta ble 3). F e m a l e s

    s p e n t m o r e t i m e t a lk i n g a b o u t th e i r o w n e x p e r i e n c e s a n d f u t u r e s o c ia l

    a c t i v i t i e s i n s i n g l e - s e x g ro u p s a n d mo re t i me t a l k i n g a b o u t o t h e r

    p e o p l e ' s r e l a t i o n s h i p s , s p o r t s , a n d a c a d e m i c m a t t e r s i n m i x e d - s e x

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    Hu ma n Co n v e r s a t i o n a l Be h a v i o r 239

    2 5

    r

    = 2 0

    2

    ( . 9 1 5

    x

    ( D

    m l O

    o

    (9

    A

    9

    9 j 9

    0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0

    S i n g l e - S e x G r o u p s

    ( 9

    o ) m a l e s

    ~ . ] M a l e s

    O0

    L

    2 5

    3 t

    . 2 5 B |

    9 ~ 9 E

    2 2 ~

    ~ 1 5 9 J o

    0 9 j J

    " = 10 ~ , ~ ~ . . , ~ .

    o

    5

    ~

    0 I i I i I ~ I ~

    0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5 3 0

    S i n g l e - S e x G r o u p s

    Figure 1 . Mean percentage of to ta l conversat ion t ime devoted to indiv idual

    topics by male and female spea kers in mixed-sex grou ps y-axis) plotte d

    against th e equiva lent values in single-sex gro ups x-axis) for a) s a m p l e N D

    London) and b) sam ple AM Liverpool). Source: Table 3.

    g r o u p s , b u t t h e d i f f e r e n c e s a r e n o t s i g n if ic a n t . T h i s is r e f l e c t e d in t h e f a ct

    t h a t t h e r e l at i v e f r e q u e n c i e s o f t h e v a r i o u s t o p i c s i n s in g l e - s e x a n d m i x e d

    g r o u p s a r e s i g n if i c a n tl y c o r re l a t e d f o r f e m a l e s i n b o t h s a m p l e s F i g u re 1;

    S p e a r m a n c o r r e l a t i o n s : s a m p l e N D , r~ = 0 . 8 8 , N = 1 0 , P < 0 . 0 1; s a m p l e

    A M , r~ = 0 . 7 8 , N = 9 , P = 0 .0 5 ; b o t h o n e - t a i l e d w i t h d f = N - 1 t o a l l o w

    f o r t h e n o n i n d e p e n d e n c e o f t h e f in a l c a t e g o r y in p e r c e n t a g e - b a s e d d a ta ).

    I n c o n t r as t , m a l e s a p p e a r t o s h o w m a r k e d c h a n g e s b e t w e e n s in g l e -s e x

    a n d m i x e d g r o u p s . A l t h o u g h t h e r e a re d i ff e r e n c e s i n s p e ci fi c s b e t w e e n

    t h e t w o s a m p l e s , t h e g e n e r a l p a t t e r n i s c o n s i s te n t : m a l e s t e n d t o t a lk

    m o r e a b o u t t h e m s e l v e s t h a n o t h e r p e o p l e ) a n d a b o u t i n te l le c t u al to p i c s

    c u l t u r a l / p o l i t i c a l a n d / o r a c a d e m i c m a t t e r s ) i n m i x e d - s e x g r o u p s . A s a

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    240 Human Nature, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1997

    Table 4.

    Relative mportance of Different Social Functions of Language in Con-

    versations (values are the perception of all social conversation time that

    were devoted to different social topics)

    Mean Percent of

    Social Conversation Timer

    Speaker: Females M ales

    Group Type: Al l -female Mixed Al l -male M ixed

    Personal experiences 30.5 34.3 18.8 32.9

    Personal social/emotional 32.9 21.5 23.7 33.4

    Third party social/emotional 23.9 37.5 40.6 18.5

    Critical comments on third parties 6.6 0.6 1.8 6.5

    Asking/giving advice 0 0 9.9 3.2

    Hypothetical social situations 6.1 6.1 5.2 5.6

    Total time devoted to social topics ( ) 70.2 69.3 59.6 66.5

    Number of subjects 10 5 9 6

    Source: sample AM

    tMean of values for each individual sampled.

    result, the correlations in the topic frequencies between single-sex and

    mixed groups are not significant for males (Figure 1; Spea rman correla-

    tions: sample ND, r s = 0.53, N = 10, P > 0.05; sample AM, rs = 0.36, N

    = 9, P > 0.05; both one-tailed wi th df = N - 1).

    Sample AM examined the social content of conversations in finer de-

    tail in order to assess the relative importance of the various possible

    social functions for language. Table 4 suggests that bo th negative gossip

    (directly critical of third parties) and the soliciting and giving of advice

    (including the discussion of hypothetical examples of social situations)

    account for relatively small proportions of overall social conversation

    time. In contrast, most social conversation time is devo ted to st atements

    about the speaker's own emotional experiences and/or relationships or

    those of third parties not present. There appear to be no significant sex

    differences in this respect.

    DISCUSSION

    We have shown a) that social topics tend to dominate conversations in

    casual conversations be tween acquaintances,

    b)

    that there appear to be a

    number of audience-dependent shifts in the pattern of conversation

    topics (particularly for males), and

    c)

    that, at least within the context of

    this particular sample of subjects, social information exchange appears

    to be the predo minan t use to which language is put. There is no particu-

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    Human Conversational ehavior 241

    lar reason to expec t conversa t ions in informal social se t tings to be dom i-

    nated by social topics: cul ture , pol i t ics , and sport are topics that people

    c la im to be in te res ted in (and do occas iona l ly t alk about ) and could thus

    have tu rne d out to be the m os t com m on topics . That the focus on social

    t op i c s shou ld be so ove rwhe lming ( a t l ea s t i n European and Nor th

    Amer ican soc ie t i es ) was unexpec ted .

    In the l ight of th is , i t seems reasonable to conclude tha t con versa t ion

    serves at least two funct ions in the social domain. Firs t , i t a l lows the

    speaker to convey to o ther indiv idua ls a lo t of informat ion about

    him/hersel f as a person. Second, i t faci l i ta tes the acquis i t ion of knowl-

    edg e about o ther indiv idua ls wi th in the soc ia l group. W i thout l anguage ,

    such knowledge can be acqui red only by d i rec t observa t ion; su i tab le

    oppo r tuni t i es to observe c rucia l events m ay be very ra re . W i th l anguage ,

    the speaker i s ab le to t e l l a l i s t ener how he /she would behave under

    those sam e c i rcumstance s (or, a t l eas t, p rovide the l i s t ener wi th eno ug h

    informat ion to enable an approp r ia te jud gm en t to be made) . This ma rks

    a s ign if icant imp rove me n t ove r wh a t n on hu m an p r ima te s can ach i eve ,

    e spec i a l l y when i t comes t o p r ed i c t i ng how ano the r i nd iv idua l migh t

    behave u nd e r c i r cums tances wh ich , a l t hough r a r e, ma y have a c ruc ia l

    impact on f i tness .

    The fac t tha t o ur samples were inevi tab ly l imi ted in the ir cu l tura l and

    contextua l range ra ises ques t ions about the genera l i ty of these f indings .

    A l thou gh t he workp l ace has i n t roduced a new env i ronm ent t ha t does

    no t exis t in t radi t ional societ ies , ther e is l it tle evid enc e to su gge st that the

    pa t te rns of soc ia l behavior in the workplace a re m uc h d i f fe rent f rom those

    obse rved i n o the r con tex ts : t he workp l ace ma y p rov ide an oppo r tun i t y

    for the acquis i t ion of a wid er ran ge o f social contacts, b ut it does n ot see m

    to chang e e i ther the fun dam enta l na tu re of those contac t s or the i r ro le in

    peo ple 's l ives (see Du nb ar a nd Spoo rs 1995; Em ler an d M cN am ara 1996).

    The soc ia l env i ronm en t i n wh ich hu ma ns i n mo der n i ndus t ri a l soci et ie s

    l ive is, in ac tual fact, li t tle differe nt from tha t fo un d in small-scale societies

    in e i ther i t s s ize or i t s compos i t ion . Al though people inevi tab ly spend

    some t ime engaged in t echnica l exchanges in the workplace , i t seems

    unl ike ly tha t workplace conversa t ions d i ffe r s ignif icant ly f rom those in

    the k inds of soc ia l env i ron me nts s tudied here . How ever , m ore empi r ica l

    work c lear ly needs to be done in th i s a rea .

    The ques t ion of cu l tura l norms i s perhaps more d i f f i cu l t to reso lve .

    Few s tud i e s o f conve r sa t i on con t en t s have been pub l i shed f rom o the r

    cu l t u r e s . Wha t has been pub l i shed does , however , sugges t t ha t ou r

    resul ts m ay n ot be u ntypical . Hav i land (1977) , for exam ple, c lassi f ied

    some 2 ,842 topics of d i scuss ion recorded dur ing casua l conversa t ions

    among Zinacantan Indians in southern Mexico . Of the 1 ,754 conversa-

    t ions tha t cont r ibuted to the 27 topics tha t indiv idua l ly accounted for

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    2 42 H u m an N a t u re , V o l . 8 , N o . 3 , 1 9 97

    m o r e t h a n 5 % o f th e s a m p l e , 78% i n v o l v e d s o ci al t o p i cs in t h e s e n s e

    d e f i n e d h e r e . O f t h e s e , n o l e s s t h a n 3 6 6 r e l a t e d e x p l ic i tl y t o s e x u a l

    a c t i v it ie s ( ill ic it s e x , a d u l t e r y , c o u r t s h i p ) , a n d t h e r e s t r e l a t e d t o t o p i c s

    s u c h a s d iv o r c e a n d c h i ld s u p p o r t , d r u n k e n n e s s , k i n d i s p u t e s , v io l e n c e ,

    q u a r r e ll in g , m u r d e r , a n d n i c k n a m e s . O n l y a r e la t iv e l y s m a l l p r o p o r t i o n

    d e a l t w i t h n o n s o c i a l to p i c s s u c h a s t h e w o r l d o f w o r k , w e a l th , a n d

    r e l ig i o n ( e .g . , w i t c h c r a f t a n d c u r i n g ) . T h e Z i n a c a n t a n , i t s e e m s , d o n o t

    d i f fe r to o m u c h f ro m m o d e r n E u r o p e a n s .

    E n q u i s t a n d L e i m a r (1 99 3) h a v e s u g g e s t e d t h a t a p r in c i p a l f u n c t i o n fo r

    g o s s i p m a y b e t o c o n t r o l f r e e r id e r s i n l a r g e s o ci al g r o u p s . E m l e r (1 99 4)

    h a s a l s o e m p h a s i z e d t h e r ol e o f l a n g u a g e i n i n f l u e n c i n g o t h e r p e o p l e ' s

    r e p u t a t i o n s . O u r r e s u l t s s u g g e s t th a t , i n t h i s s a m p l e a t l e a st , o n l y a b o u t

    3 - 4 % o f c o n v e r s a t i o n t im e c e n t e r s a r o u n d m a l ic i o u s ( or n e g a t i v e ) g o s -

    s i p i n t h e c o l lo q u i a l s e n s e . O n e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h i s w o u l d b e t h a t t h e

    s oc ia l c o n t r o l f u n c t i o n o f l a n g u a g e is l e ss i m p o r t a n t t h a n E n q u i s t a n d

    L e i m a r s u p p o s e . A l t e r n a t iv e l y ( a n d p e r h a p s m o r e p l a u si b ly ) , i t c o u l d b e

    a r g u e d t h a t s o c i a l c o n t r o l i s m o r e o f t e n e x e r c i s e d i n d i r e c t l y t h r o u g h

    r e p o r t a g e ( D i d y o u k n o w t h a t X d i d . . . . ) r a t h e r th a n b y e xp li ci t c e n -

    s u r e ( W a s n ' t X 's b e h a v i o r a w f u l . . . . ) ( se e al so E m l e r 19 94 ). A th i r d

    p o s s i b i l i t y i s t h a t t h e m o r e o v e r t l y c e n s o r i a l f u n c t i o n s o f l a n g u a g e a r e

    c o n f i n e d t o m o r e i n t im a t e s i t u a ti o n s r a t h e r t h a n p u b l i c p la c e s. T h i s p o s -

    s i b i l i t y w o u l d s e e m l e s s p l a u s i b l e s i n c e i t w o u l d l a r g e l y o b v i a t e t h e

    c e n s o r i a l v a l u e o f th e e x c h a n g e b y l i m i t in g it t o a v e r y s m a l l c l iq u e w h e n

    a la r g e r o n e c o u l d b e r e a c h e d j u s t a s e a s i ly - - e s p e c i a l l y g i v e n t h a t t h e

    v a l u e o f c e n s o r ia l g o s s i p is p r o b a b l y a n e x p o n e n t i a l f u n c t i o n o f t h e s i z e

    o f t h e g r o u p t h a t c a n b e r e a c h e d . M o r e d e t a i l e d s t u d i e s w i l l c l e a r l y b e

    n e e d e d t o c l a r i f y t h i s .

    C o m p a r i s o n s w i t h in a n d b e t w e e n t h e t h re e s a m p l e s s u g g e s t t h a t a

    n u m b e r o f i m p o r t a n t s e x d if f e re n c e s e xis t. O n e is a t e n d e n c y f o r m a l e s

    t o d e v o t e m o r e c o n v e r s a t i o n t i m e t o in t e ll e c tu a l o r w o r k - r e l a t e d t o p i c s.

    A s e c o n d is f o r t h is p a t t e r n t o b e c o m e e x a g g e r a t e d w h e n f e m a l e s a re

    p r e s e n t . A t h i r d is f o r m a l e c o n v e r s a t i o n s t o c h a n g e m o r e d r a m a t i c a ll y

    w i t h a g e t h a n t h o s e o f f e m a l e s , w i t h a s i g n if ic a n t s h i f t o f e m p h a s i s f r o m

    p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s t o fa c tu a l e x p e r i e n c e s . W h i le o l d e r f e m a l e s s h o w

    t h e s a m e s h i f t t o le i s u r e / s p o r t s t o p ic s a s m a l e s , t h e y c o n t i n u e t o m a i n -

    t a i n a m o r e e v e n b a l a n c e b e t w e e n p e r s o n a l a n d f a c t u a l t o p i c s , s u g g e s t -

    i n g t h a t f e m a l e s m a y b e m o r e i n t e r e s t e d t h a n m a l e s i n s e r v i c i n g t h e

    r e l a t io n s h i p s w i t h i n t h e i r so c ia l n e t w o r k s . I n a d d i t io n , c h i l d r e n a n d

    f a m i l y m a t t e r s ( n o t s p e c if ic a l ly s e p a r a t e d o u t i n t h i s s t u d y ) c l e a r ly d o m i -

    n a t e d t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n s o f o l d e r w o m e n , t h o u g h t h e y w e r e r a re ly m e n -

    t i o n e d i n m a l e c o n v e r s a t i o n s .

    W e s u g g e s t t h a t t h e s e p a t t e r n s c a n b e s t b e u n d e r s t o o d i n t h e c o n t e x t

    o f s e x d i f f e r e n c e s i n r e p r o d u c t i v e t a c t i c s . F e m a l e c o n v e r s a t i o n s c a n b e

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    Human Conversational ehavior

    243

    seen to be d i rec ted main ly towards socia l ne twork ing (ensur ing the

    smooth runn ing o f the socia l g roup) , whereas males ' conversa t ions are

    mo re conc erne d wi th s e l f -p romot ion in what has a ll the characteris tics o f

    a mat ing lek . Th is is par t icu lar ly s t r ik ing in the two un ivers i ty sam ples

    where academic mat ters and cu l tu re /po l i t ics , respect ively , sudden ly be-

    come top ics o f in tense in teres t to males when females are p resen t .

    Hawkes (1991) has argued that , in hun ter -gatherer socie t ies , hun t ing

    large game is a s t ra tegy fo r sho win g off ra ther than a fo rm of ind i rec t

    p a ren ta l in v es tmen t . Hu n t in g l arge g am e i s n o t eco n o mica lly wo r th -

    whi le fo r hun ter -gatherer males , and thei r con t inued ins is tence on do-

    ing i t can be in te rp re te d as a fo rm of honest d isp lay in the con tex t o f a

    wid er mat in g g ame. In th e ch an g ed c i rcu mstan ces o f mo d ern l i f e , we

    should expect males to seek other equivalent cues of quali ty . Perfor-

    mance a t spor t o r o ther le isu re ac t iv i t ies may funct ion in th is way and

    may account fo r males ' g reater compet i t iveness in most such con tex ts .

    We suggest that , in the rather special ized contexts of inst i tu t ions l ike

    un ivers i ties , academic p row ess m ay be in terp r e ted in the same way , and

    that m ales ' e mph asis on academic/cu l tu ra l /po l it ica l top ics (especia l ly in

    convers a t ions that invo lve females) i s in fac t a fo rm of lekk ing behav ior

    (where females sample the avai lab le males , who seek to d isp lay thei r

    respective qualities in visual, vocal, or, in this case, verbal form). Con-

    tex t i s p robab ly a l l - impor tan t here: un de r o ther c i rcumstances , d i f feren t

    topics ma y com e to the fore (musical expert ise in a mu sic society , know l-

    edge of bridge at a bridge club, knowledge of poli t ics in a poli t ical

    o rg an iza t io n , an d so o n ) . Th ese d a ta wo u ld seem to l en d su p p o r t to

    Miller 's (1996) suggest ion that humans use their large brains mainly to

    en ter ta in p rospect ive mate s ( the Schehe razade effect ) .

    In conclus ion , these f ind ings are in l ine wi th recen t v iews on the

    nature o f socia l re la t ionsh ips in nonhuman pr imate socie t ies (see Dun-

    bar 1988; Smut s et al . 1987). Wo me n's co nver sat io n can be s een as being

    largely concerned wi th socia l ne twork ing ( the acqu is i t ion o f knowledge

    wi th w hic h to create an d/ or service key social relat ionships) . In contrast ,

    men ' s ap p are n t p reo ccu p a t io n wi th th emse lv es an d w i th t ech nical su b -

    jec ts seems to have much more to do wi th se l f -adver t i sement (a phe-

    nomenon of p r imary re levance to female cho ice as the major p rocess

    d ic ta t ing males ' mat ing access to females) . Most conversa t ions thus

    seem to b e co n cern ed e i the r w i th imp ar t in g in fo rmat io n ab o u t th e k in d

    o f p e r so n y o u a re o r w i th co mmen ta ry o n a w id er n e two rk o f so c ia l

    acquain tances .

    Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolut ionary Psychology at the Universi ty of Liverpool

    England). His research focuses on the behaviora l ecology of hum an and no nh um an pr i-

    mates and on the evolut ion of the socia l bra in. Nei l Duncan took a degree in human

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    244 H um a n Na tu r e , Vo l . 8 , No . 3 , 1997

    biology at University College Lond on an d is now a qu alified medical practitioner. Ann a

    M arriott studied psychology at L iverpool University.

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