Suggested readings:
Some more studies hinting at the possibility that women secretly care more about looks than men:
Among friends, women gossip more about physical appearance (d = -.80), whereas men gossip more about achievement (d = .16).
http://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0160-4 (Watson, 2012)
Female students are twice as talkative as males in collaborative tasks when they are physically close and in small groups (N = 79).
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep05604 (Onnela 2014)
50% of women, but only 19% of men reported having phone conversations lasting longer than 10 minutes, daily or weekly (N = 136).
http://doi.org/10.1007/bf00303101 (Aries 1983)
Men are more talkative in large mixed-sex groups, so overall the sex difference in talkativeness is small.
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-98939-010 (James & Drakich, 1993)
However, in a sample of N = 194 students, 71% of conversations between female students were gossip compared to 64% between male students.
(The data were "collected by having trained observers overhear conversations in the student lounge". Gossip is defined in a neutral way as "talking about a third person without their presence", regardless of tone or intention.)
56% of the women's targets but only 25% of the men's target were friends or relatives. Men rather gossiped about public figures and distant acquaintances (M 46% vs F 16%). No sex difference in derogatory tone.
Thus, women likely engage in nasty, personal gossip (.71 × .56) / (.64 × .25) ≈ 2.5 times as often as men. Perhaps even more often because such gossip might occur more often in small groups and women are twice as talkative in that setting.
http://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287594 (Levin & Arluke, 1985)
This roughly agrees with this more recent study that found women to be around twice as often described as "demanding/difficult" as men.
http://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417737951 (Offer 2017)
Women prefer to talk (57% vs 16%), men prefer to do things (84% vs 43%), d ≈ 1.17.
http://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287568 (Caldwell 1982)
Girls are more likely to target the opposite sex with aggression than boys. (Boys are much more likely to target their own sex with aggression, so they are overall more aggressive.)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-008-9065-5 (Artz 2008)
… so not only do women gossip more about physical appearance among friends, they also gossip a lot more about their close friends, so overall they possibly gossip about physical appearance of their friends more than 3 times as often as men.
- James, D., & Drakich, J. "Understanding gender differences in amount of talk: A critical review of research" in D. Tannen (Ed.), Oxford studies in sociolinguistics. Gender and conversational interaction (pp. 281-312). New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Some more studies hinting at the possibility that women secretly care more about looks than men:
Among friends, women gossip more about physical appearance (d = -.80), whereas men gossip more about achievement (d = .16).
http://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0160-4 (Watson, 2012)
Female students are twice as talkative as males in collaborative tasks when they are physically close and in small groups (N = 79).
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep05604 (Onnela 2014)
50% of women, but only 19% of men reported having phone conversations lasting longer than 10 minutes, daily or weekly (N = 136).
http://doi.org/10.1007/bf00303101 (Aries 1983)
Men are more talkative in large mixed-sex groups, so overall the sex difference in talkativeness is small.
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-98939-010 (James & Drakich, 1993)
However, in a sample of N = 194 students, 71% of conversations between female students were gossip compared to 64% between male students.
(The data were "collected by having trained observers overhear conversations in the student lounge". Gossip is defined in a neutral way as "talking about a third person without their presence", regardless of tone or intention.)
56% of the women's targets but only 25% of the men's target were friends or relatives. Men rather gossiped about public figures and distant acquaintances (M 46% vs F 16%). No sex difference in derogatory tone.
Thus, women likely engage in nasty, personal gossip (.71 × .56) / (.64 × .25) ≈ 2.5 times as often as men. Perhaps even more often because such gossip might occur more often in small groups and women are twice as talkative in that setting.
http://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287594 (Levin & Arluke, 1985)
This roughly agrees with this more recent study that found women to be around twice as often described as "demanding/difficult" as men.
http://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417737951 (Offer 2017)
Women prefer to talk (57% vs 16%), men prefer to do things (84% vs 43%), d ≈ 1.17.
http://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287568 (Caldwell 1982)
Girls are more likely to target the opposite sex with aggression than boys. (Boys are much more likely to target their own sex with aggression, so they are overall more aggressive.)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-008-9065-5 (Artz 2008)
… so not only do women gossip more about physical appearance among friends, they also gossip a lot more about their close friends, so overall they possibly gossip about physical appearance of their friends more than 3 times as often as men.
