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The study, published in the scientific in the scientific journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, showed that over the past decade and a half, the average number of words spoken has decreased markedly. The average person speaks about 300-350 fewer words per day than before.
Initially, the scientists did not set out to study the decline in talkativeness at all. Psychology professor Matthias Mehl of the University of Arizona planned to replicate earlier work on differences in sociability between men and women. However, when he analyzed data from more than two thousand participants from different studies, an unexpected trend emerged: people started talking significantly less.
If in the mid-2000s, the average person spoke about 16 thousand words a day, then by the end of the 2010s, this figure fell to about 12-13 thousand. Moreover, the reduction proved to be stable and is observed in all age groups.
This trend is especially rapid among young people. In people under 25, the decline is more noticeable than in the older generation. Nevertheless, the general trend is the same for all: live communication is gradually giving way to other forms of interaction.
The reasons, according to the researchers, are not limited to the influence of smartphones. Changes in everyday life play a significant role: self-service checkouts, online ordering, navigation apps – all these reduce the number of casual conversations that used to be part of everyday life.
At the same time, the shift of communication to text does not compensate for the loss of live dialog. Oral speech includes intonation, emotion and the direct presence of the interlocutor – elements that are difficult to convey in messages. As a result, the quality of social ties may decrease.
Researchers warn: the decline in conversations may be linked to an increased sense of loneliness. This trend became particularly noticeable after the pandemic, when many people became accustomed to remote interaction.
According to experts, even small everyday conversations play an important role for psychological well-being. Therefore, the simple act of talking to those around you may be more important than it seems at first glance.
