Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Truth About Sex Differences
psychology today ^ | 11.24.17 | David Schmitt

Posted on 11/24/2017 6:00:16 AM PST by Chickensoup

It's an elemental fact that people increasingly don't want to hear: Sex differences in personality and behavior are real. And they have a profound effect on many aspects of health. ....

...It's time for a grown-up conversation about sex. No, not that one. The other one, about the minds of men and women. Converging lines of empirical evidence—from developmental neuroscience, medical genetics, evolutionary biology, cross-cultural psychology, and new studies of transsexuality—along with our evolutionary heritage, all point to the same conclusion: There are psychological differences between men and women. And they affect matters as trivial as sensitivity to smelly socks and as significant as susceptibility to disorders such as depression and autism. ...

...Fact: American women are 15 percent less likely to reach a managerial position in the workplace than are men—but in Sweden women are 48 percent less likely, in Norway 52 percent, in Finland 56 percent, and in Denmark 63 percent.

Whatever the differences in men's and women's psyches—empathy, jealousy, cognitive abilities, mate preferences—many theories in psychology assume that they result primarily from direct gender socialization by parents, media, and societal institutions. As a result, it is often expected that sex differences will be smaller in cultures with higher levels of gender-related egalitarianism, as in Scandinavia, where socialization and roles are more balanced between men and women and sociopolitical gender equity prevails.

Surprisingly, several large cross-cultural studies have found this is not at all the case. Whether scientists measure Big Five personality traits, such as neuroticism; Dark Triad traits, such as psychopathy; or self-esteem, subjective well-being, or depression, empirical evidence shows that most sex differences are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles—as in Scandinavia.

The same holds true for cognitive attributes, including mental rotation and location ability, objectively measured on tests, as well as for physical traits such as height and blood pressure (both greater in men). And among such differences as preferring physically attractive mates, some of the largest psychological variances of all occur among the most progressive people: Scandinavians. The phenomenon is called the gender equality paradox.

Culture matters in explaining psychological sex differences, but not in the way most people think. It's not harsher gender socialization by parents and media, stringent societal gender roles, or institutional sociopolitical forces that widen the differences between men and women in the most progressive nations in the world. When you treat everyone the same, as in the Nordic countries, it's only genetic predispositions that produce the most observable individual differences. Extremes of sexual freedom beget larger psychological sex differences. Or as explained by Israeli psychologists Shalom Schwartz and Tammy Rubel-Lifshitz, it may be that having fewer gendered restrictions in a culture allows "both sexes to pursue more freely the values they inherently care about more.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: men; psychology; sexdifferences; women
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last
It's an elemental fact that people increasingly don't want to hear: Sex differences in personality and behavior are real. And they have a profound effect on many aspects of health. ....

...It's time for a grown-up conversation about sex. No, not that one. The other one, about the minds of men and women. Converging lines of empirical evidence—from developmental neuroscience, medical genetics, evolutionary biology, cross-cultural psychology, and new studies of transsexuality—along with our evolutionary heritage, all point to the same conclusion: There are psychological differences between men and women. And they affect matters as trivial as sensitivity to smelly socks and as significant as susceptibility to disorders such as depression and autism. ...

...Fact: American women are 15 percent less likely to reach a managerial position in the workplace than are men—but in Sweden women are 48 percent less likely, in Norway 52 percent, in Finland 56 percent, and in Denmark 63 percent.

Whatever the differences in men's and women's psyches—empathy, jealousy, cognitive abilities, mate preferences—many theories in psychology assume that they result primarily from direct gender socialization by parents, media, and societal institutions. As a result, it is often expected that sex differences will be smaller in cultures with higher levels of gender-related egalitarianism, as in Scandinavia, where socialization and roles are more balanced between men and women and sociopolitical gender equity prevails.

Surprisingly, several large cross-cultural studies have found this is not at all the case. Whether scientists measure Big Five personality traits, such as neuroticism; Dark Triad traits, such as psychopathy; or self-esteem, subjective well-being, or depression, empirical evidence shows that most sex differences are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles—as in Scandinavia.

The same holds true for cognitive attributes, including mental rotation and location ability, objectively measured on tests, as well as for physical traits such as height and blood pressure (both greater in men). And among such differences as preferring physically attractive mates, some of the largest psychological variances of all occur among the most progressive people: Scandinavians. The phenomenon is called the gender equality paradox.

Culture matters in explaining psychological sex differences, but not in the way most people think. It's not harsher gender socialization by parents and media, stringent societal gender roles, or institutional sociopolitical forces that widen the differences between men and women in the most progressive nations in the world. When you treat everyone the same, as in the Nordic countries, it's only genetic predispositions that produce the most observable individual differences. Extremes of sexual freedom beget larger psychological sex differences. Or as explained by Israeli psychologists Shalom Schwartz and Tammy Rubel-Lifshitz, it may be that having fewer gendered restrictions in a culture allows "both sexes to pursue more freely the values they inherently care about more.

1 posted on 11/24/2017 6:00:16 AM PST by Chickensoup
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Chickensoup

Is equality even possible where there are double standards?


2 posted on 11/24/2017 6:09:44 AM PST by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Chickensoup

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus. And that’s the way it is.


3 posted on 11/24/2017 6:12:05 AM PST by deweyfrank (Nobody's Perfect)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Chickensoup

This would not have been news as recently as the 1960’s. It is refreshing that after a relatively brief side trip into cultural insanity, we are so soon discovering the lunacy of such ideas and returning to sanity.


4 posted on 11/24/2017 6:12:56 AM PST by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm male.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: equaviator

There is and can be no equality

Inequality makes the world go round


5 posted on 11/24/2017 6:14:18 AM PST by Thibodeaux (whites seem to actually be supreme)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: equaviator
Is equality even possible where there are double standards?

Equality, in the sense you are using the word, is like a unicorn - everybody knows what it looks like, but no one has ever seen it.

Institutions in civilized nations can have PROCEDURAL equality, at least as a goal. We have that, as a goal, meaning that whether or not you get that speeding ticket does not depend on your sex or social station.

But FUNCTIONAL equality, meaning that women can be Navy SEALs, for example, is a travesty.

Reality mandates "double standards". Most "double standards" are not really that, they simply mean that we do not treat unlike things in a similar manner.

6 posted on 11/24/2017 6:16:44 AM PST by Jim Noble (Single payer is coming. Which kind do you like)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Chickensoup

Someone needs to tell this to all those dyke, lesbos running diversity departments in corporate America.


7 posted on 11/24/2017 6:18:58 AM PST by Nicojones
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Chickensoup

Courageous for that publication. Pop psychology has long catered to people who like shallow thinking, and who easily fall prey to popular fads. Surprising that they would actually publish this. The feminazis will be reading it after they come back from the Equinox worship in Stonehenge, and will be condemning it.

The article does say that the differences are inherent, and are genetic. This destroys the fake/phoney/fraud construct of the militant left. I predict that the author is trashed.

What I would like to see in print, is an article warning people and their doctors that knowledge of the person’s sex IS important for diagnosis and treatment, and that LYING, and claiming to be a sex other than one’s real one, can lead to improper diagnosis and/or treatment. So, a male who has some things lopped off and who claims to be a female had damned well better tell his doctor about his fantasy! The doctor IS NOT responsible for the outcome when the patient lies about his sex.


8 posted on 11/24/2017 6:20:22 AM PST by I want the USA back (Cynicism may just keep you from going insane in a world that has chosen its own demise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robroys woman

Unfortunately, the law and politics (including “conservative” politicians) are still stuck in the insanity.


9 posted on 11/24/2017 6:24:02 AM PST by Petrosius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Chickensoup

Ping


10 posted on 11/24/2017 6:29:21 AM PST by Chainmail (A simple rule of life: if you can be blamed, you're responsible.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Nicojones

Wouldn’t do any good.

There are none so blind as those who will not see.


11 posted on 11/24/2017 6:34:08 AM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: NewJerseyJoe

P4L


12 posted on 11/24/2017 6:35:38 AM PST by NewJerseyJoe (Rat mantra: "Facts are meaningless! You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Petrosius

Unfortunately, the law and politics (including “conservative” politicians) are still stuck in the insanity.


I don’t think you mean “conservative”. I think you mean “republican”.

I used to think the two words were unanimuous, until dubya was given a republican majority in congress. I my view of american politcs changed dramatically over the course of the next year.

This is why I left the R party and have not been surprised by the antics of the R party since Trump’s election. We’ve had a #uniparty for decades that is adept at playing “good cop, bad cop” with the american people.

I don’t even take them seriously any more.


13 posted on 11/24/2017 6:36:08 AM PST by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm male.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: robroys woman

Sorry

Unanimous = synonymous


14 posted on 11/24/2017 6:36:58 AM PST by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm male.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: robroys woman

I remember reading back in the 1970’s how some day we would all be unisex. What a scary thought! I don’t know why anyone would have thought such an idea to be a good thing to happen. Especially libs as such equality would lack diversity.


15 posted on 11/24/2017 6:39:32 AM PST by This I Wonder32460
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: robroys woman

Please note that I put conservative in scare quotes.


16 posted on 11/24/2017 6:43:37 AM PST by Petrosius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Thibodeaux

We are all equally inequal, just as we are perfectly imperfect, so God made us to be imperfectly perfect and unequally equal. Life is a balancing act.


17 posted on 11/24/2017 6:50:49 AM PST by This I Wonder32460
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Jim Noble

Yep, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.


18 posted on 11/24/2017 7:05:56 AM PST by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: deweyfrank

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus.


The summer temperatures on Mars equal the winter temperatures in Antarctica.

The average temperatures on Venus allow molten lead to rain from the sky and sizzle on the ground like hot skillet grease.

Maybe they want to rethink that phrase.


19 posted on 11/24/2017 7:14:25 AM PST by samtheman (Liberalism is a mental disease.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Jim Noble

Well said, Jim Noble.


20 posted on 11/24/2017 7:19:57 AM PST by Walrus (Those who work should eat better than those who don't)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-39 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson