Boys Compete 'For The Sake Of It'

New Scientist ^ | 8-25-2002 | Alison Motluk

[blam]

Boys compete 'for the sake of it'

09:30 25 August 02

Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition

Boys will compete just for the sake of it, but girls will not waste effort on competition unless it pays, a Canadian study has revealed.

Rosanne Roy from McGill University in Montreal and her colleagues got 40 groups of four boys or four girls, aged 5 to 6 or 9 to 10, to play two specially designed games.

In one, for instance, the children had to thread beads on a stick until it was full, taking the beads from either a common pot or another player. One set of rules meant that everyone would eventually win, so competition was pointless. Another set of rules allowed for only one winner, so competing made sense.

The girls spent more time watching the reactions of their competitors and responding to them.

"They would watch the facial expression of their opponent as they decided whether or not to take the bead. Sometimes they would decide not to," says Roy.

And the older girls wasted no effort on competition, except when it paid off. Boys, on the other hand, competed just for the sake of it, even if there was nothing to be gained. "It was way too much fun to take from others," Roy says.

The team's research was presented at the International Society for Human Ethology conference in Montreal.

Alison Motluk

[blam]

Who would have guessed? Boys and girls are different.

[TomGuy]

"It was way too much fun to take from others," Roy says.

He's on his way to a career as a politician. They, too, like to take from others.

[Fzob]

The team's research was presented at the International Society for Human Ethology conference in Montreal

. Ethology;

The branch of zoology that studies the behavior of animals in their natural habitats. I know kids can act like animals, but perhaps this is going too far.

[moyden]

Feminist = idiot.

[aruanan]

Boys will compete just for the sake of it, but girls will not waste effort on competition unless it pays, a Canadian study has revealed.

Note what this means but what the article doesn't state: boys will dig in and compete no matter what. All they have to do is to believe that an arena of competition exists. This explains why men are more likely to be involved in sports, combat, business, (and crime). Girls will limit their participation by their own concepts of what will pay off. Since one's own concepts of what will pay off are necessarily limited by one's experience, intelligence, ability to predict, (and fantasies about how it's all going to pan out) this would explain why so many of them marry absolute bums. It would also explain why some marriages work so well: a woman with superior abilities to predict what will or won't pay off gets hitched up with a guy who will pursue the goal even if it means crawling on broken glass.

[martin gibson]

Feminist = idiot.

A rat is a dog is a pig is a feminist...

(with profound apologies to rats, dogs and pigs).

[blam]

"a woman with superior abilities to predict what will or won't pay off gets hitched up with a guy who will pursue the goal even if it means crawling on broken glass."

Behind every successful man is a woman. (pushing?)

[Durus]

I can only speak for myself but when I was a boy I didn't play "for the sake of it", I played to win.

[aruanan]

Here's the primary definition:

Main Entry:
ethol·o·gy

Date: circa 1843

1 : a branch of knowledge dealing with human ethos and with its formation and evolution

To help with the above:

Main Entry:

ethos

Etymology: New Latin, from Greek Ethos custom, character -- more at SIB

Date: 1851

: the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution

[blam]

"I can only speak for myself but when I was a boy I didn't play "for the sake of it", I played to win."

Me too...at everything. (still do)

[dennisw]

It would also explain why some marriages work so well: a woman with superior abilities to predict what will or won't pay off gets hitched up with a guy who will pursue the goal even if it means crawling on broken glass.

Works the other way 'round too. Superior men want a women with good upbringing, ability to carry, nurture and instruct babies/children, and good genetics.

[aruanan]

I can only speak for myself but when I was a boy I didn't play "for the sake of it", I played to win.

Well, I wonder if the boys in question, were they to have been asked, would have said that they expected to win, even in the games that the experimenters characterized as non-winnable.

[glorgau]

So, for guys, the journey is the reward,

and for girls, the reward is the reward.

[laker_dad]

Does this mean we can get rid of Title IX in schools? Maybe wrestling will make a comeback...

[templar]

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that (govt. funded) behavioral studies seem to be heading toward the High School science fair level? And drawing conclusions more appropriate to a Junior High science fair?

[templar]

The branch of zoology that studies the behavior of animals in their natural habitats.

And attempts to prove evolution by showing behaviorlal links between species, much as genetics is used by others. I had an Ethologist as a college instructor once.

[blam]

"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that (govt. funded) behavioral studies seem to be heading toward the High School science fair level? And drawing conclusions more appropriate to a Junior High science fair?"

Yup. I'm cancelling Scientific American because they have gone PC and to the left.

[aruanan]

So, for guys, the journey is the reward,

Or they believe that any journey will inevitably lead to a reward if pursued to the end.

[Tired of Taxes]

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that (govt. funded) behavioral studies seem to be heading toward the High School science fair level? And drawing conclusions more appropriate to a Junior High science fair?

Haha... I noticed that, too. However, I also believe there's a difference between boys and girls. But, we didn't need a gov't-funded study to tell us that. Just go to any little league game and watch the boys and girls on the team play. The boys run around, bounce off the walls, get physical with each other (like pushing)... The girls seem very attentive, more well-mannered, and often they're the better players at that age. I noticed it without the support of gov't funding at my sons' little league basketball and T-ball games.

[webstersII]

It was way too much fun to take from others

I'm sure that conclusion was based on her unbiased analysis skills.