Men and conversations - is it true?

Conventional thinking says that women are much better at general, open-ended conversation than men are. I can certainly think of a number of men - often the male half of a couple - who are really hard work in conversation. However, I can also think of quite a few men who are a pleasure to talk with, and quite a few women who are hard work.

Conventional thinking says that women try harder in conversation because - either by nature or by conditioning - they are more focused on smoothing things along, on making sure other people are looked after and feel good. It says that men tend to be more "instrumental" in their conversation, talking for a purpose and not talking just for the sake of it; they tend to compete with jokes, quips, digs and facts.

As in so many areas of life, conventional wisdom grossly oversimplifies the situation, but it does contain more than a grain of truth.