This statistic is reflected in further data that showed that women gave two-thirds of the recorded compliments and received three-quarters of them.
Janet Holmes[3] suggests that the discrepancies in male-male and female-female complimentary language may be due to differences in perception concerning the purpose of compliments.
Compliments are usually classified into one of four categories, depending on what they refer to: appearance, ability and performance, possessions, or personality.
Though by no means as natural as everyday interactions, the number and type of appearance comments between female and male characters both mirror and conflict with data from real-life studies.
[13] Wolfson found that male professionals felt little hesitation in making personal compliments to female co-workers, especially as jokes.
These "sexist compliments" are more frequent when the woman is the subordinate position (i.e. male boss to female secretary).
Based on these findings Herbert questions whether native speakers of other varieties of English follow the same patterns.
Compliments as an expression of approval is just one general description; however, as discussed above, how such politeness strategies are exhibited can vary according to the values of the society in which they are performed.
The different notions of gender roles within a given society seems to have a bearing on both the frequency and style of compliments delivered in conversation.
According to studies carried out by Manes and Wolfson, compliments in American culture are expressed quite frequently in conversation in attempt to achieve and maintain successful social relationships with others.
Across society, men and women compliment each other freely and seemingly often about an array of topics and in various social contexts.
Many studies have looked at the use of piropos carried out by Spanish-speaking men to compliment a woman's physical beauty and attributes.
Zena Moore[18] concluded that to many American English speakers these speech acts are seen to be sexist and closely related to machismo.
Despite the negative perception among American English speakers, the term and its usage are widely recognized in Hispanic culture.
Moore highlights that piropos are embedded in long cultural traditions and generally received with positivity by Hispanic women.
A study by Arin Bayraktaraglu and Maria Sifianou[19] described compliments in Turkish as formulaic and occurring mostly in friendly situations.
Wolfson (1984) noted that it is often inappropriate for a man to compliment a Chinese woman on her physical attributes, especially if they do not have a close relationship.
A study by Gabriele Kasper[21] found that over 80% of Chinese speaking women from her sample gave more explicit compliments and responses in comparison to less than half of the men.