Gender differences

[Sriram]

Hi everyone,

Here is a BBC article about gender differences.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities

***********
It’s been said that men and women are so unlike each other, it’s as if they’re from different planets

While our physical differences in size and anatomy are obvious, the question of psychological differences between the genders is a lot more complicated and controversial. There are issues around how to reliably measure the differences. And when psychologists find them, there are usually arguments over whether the causes are innate and biological, or social and cultural. Are men and women born different or does society shape them that way?

research has shown that the genders begin to differ in personality very early in life.

And gender differences in personality seem to persist into the twilight years. Another study looked at average differences in personality between women and men aged 65 to 98, and just as with research on younger adults, the elderly women tended to score higher on Neuroticism and Agreeableness than the elderly men.

all three large, cross-cultural studies by Costa, McCrae and others actually found men and women differed in average personality more in more developed and gender-egalitarian cultures, such as in Europe and America than in cultures in Asia and Africa where there is less gender equality (as measured by such things as women’s literacy and life expectancy).

This seems to run against the idea that our personalities develop from cultural expectations around traditional gender roles. One explanation for this surprise finding is that the innate, biological factors that cause personality differences between men and women are more dominant in cultures where the genders are more equal. Such a scenario would certainly fit with what we know about the relative influence of genes and the environment on other psychological traits – for example, the more that schooling is made equal for everyone, the bigger the influence of inherited intelligence on academic outcomes.

the researchers actually found gender differences for every one of the 10 aspects of personality that they looked at – women scored higher, on average, on enthusiasm, compassion, politeness, orderliness, volatility, withdrawal, and openness, while men scored higher on assertiveness, industriousness and intellect.

Del Giudice and his colleagues documented gender-based differences in personality which they said were “extremely large by psychological standards”. They added that they believed their approach “made it clear that the true extent of sex differences in personality has been consistently underestimated”.

As Marco Del Giudice says, “researchers often stress the risk of overestimating gender differences, but the converse is just as true. Pretending that gender differences are smaller than they are deprives people of a very important piece of knowledge about themselves and others.”

************

Any views?

Sriram

[ippy]

Hi everyone,

Here is a BBC article about gender differences.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities

***********
It’s been said that men and women are so unlike each other, it’s as if they’re from different planets

While our physical differences in size and anatomy are obvious, the question of psychological differences between the genders is a lot more complicated and controversial. There are issues around how to reliably measure the differences. And when psychologists find them, there are usually arguments over whether the causes are innate and biological, or social and cultural. Are men and women born different or does society shape them that way?

research has shown that the genders begin to differ in personality very early in life.

And gender differences in personality seem to persist into the twilight years. Another study looked at average differences in personality between women and men aged 65 to 98, and just as with research on younger adults, the elderly women tended to score higher on Neuroticism and Agreeableness than the elderly men.

all three large, cross-cultural studies by Costa, McCrae and others actually found men and women differed in average personality more in more developed and gender-egalitarian cultures, such as in Europe and America than in cultures in Asia and Africa where there is less gender equality (as measured by such things as women’s literacy and life expectancy).

This seems to run against the idea that our personalities develop from cultural expectations around traditional gender roles. One explanation for this surprise finding is that the innate, biological factors that cause personality differences between men and women are more dominant in cultures where the genders are more equal. Such a scenario would certainly fit with what we know about the relative influence of genes and the environment on other psychological traits – for example, the more that schooling is made equal for everyone, the bigger the influence of inherited intelligence on academic outcomes.

the researchers actually found gender differences for every one of the 10 aspects of personality that they looked at – women scored higher, on average, on enthusiasm, compassion, politeness, orderliness, volatility, withdrawal, and openness, while men scored higher on assertiveness, industriousness and intellect.

Del Giudice and his colleagues documented gender-based differences in personality which they said were “extremely large by psychological standards”. They added that they believed their approach “made it clear that the true extent of sex differences in personality has been consistently underestimated”.

As Marco Del Giudice says, “researchers often stress the risk of overestimating gender differences, but the converse is just as true. Pretending that gender differences are smaller than they are deprives people of a very important piece of knowledge about themselves and others.”

************

Any views?

Sriram

This book does look and sound like a battle of the sexes wind up; I've got some very strong women in my family that have taken the time to read this book and it's accepted as a fun and really sensible book that's not sexist in any bad ways, nor is it a wind up.

We, all of my family liked this book and it often is referred to.   

Give it a go Sriram; "Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps", by Alan & Barbara Pease, you'll find it goes a long way to answering this post of yours.

ippy

[Gonnagle]

Dear Sriram,

Once again I state the obvious, but it is a mind blowing obvious, evolution, women/females, they are the one who carry our newborn inside them, they have been doing this since the dawn of time, that simple little fact, is the biggest gender difference, how does that affect a females thinking, God only knows.

For humans this lasts nine months, nine months of feeling something growing inside you, what is that all about??

I can't imagine what this does to the female mind, but it has been going on for millions of years, it must have some evolutionary effect, one that us men can not begin to fathom.

Then we have the birth, oh yes! the brave man holds his good ladies hand in the procedure, but what is that very moment like for the woman, this also must alter the way women think, and the real scary bit, most females have witnessed a birth but they still go ahead and get pregnant themselves, are they sado masochists, I thank God everyday that I was born male and why I have huge respect for The Female of the Species.

Gonnagle.

[wigginhall]

I suppose there is the usual confusion between sex and gender here.   There is no point in complaining now, as it is endemic.  If you write on them though, you have to start by explaining which terms you will use, and their meaning.

[ad_orientem]

In a world of sex lib, same sex "marriage" etc, it suits its supportrs to separate sex from gender because the goal is to make men into women and women into men.

[wigginhall]

You have to separate sex from gender, if you are going to make sense.   Otherwise, every statement will be gibberish.   

[ippy]

Has anyone seen that picture of a giant book served up on a fork lift, with the caption, 'How to Understand Women, Volume One'.

ippy

[john]

Samuel Johnson (the diarist) was asked what he thought was the difference between men and women, he replied... wait for it!

"I really can't conceive".

[floo]

Samuel Johnson (the diarist) was asked what he thought was the difference between men and women, he replied... wait for it!

"I really can't conceive".

Maybe in the future due to modern technology men will be able to conceive!

If Men Gave Birth

If men gave birth
The world would be under populated.
No family greater than one child.
As the labour was unendurable and unrepeatable.

If men gave birth
Tales of courage and suffering bravely borne
Would pale the faces of the uninitiated.
The Victoria Cross in the face of such fortitude, commonplace.

If men gave birth
In the clubs and pubs through out the land,
Stretch marks would be revealed and measured
To the admiring gaze of the cognoscenti.

If men gave birth
Eighteen years of paternity leave a right
Generous Allowances, benefits and tax breaks
To be expected by the paternal heroes.

If men gave birth
Who would raise the precious offspring?
The fathers worn out by being enceinte for nine months.
The answer is obvious, the answer is plain, WOMEN.

RJG

[Nearly Sane]

Maybe in the future due to modern technology men will be able to conceive!

If Men Gave Birth

If men gave birth
The world would be under populated.
No family greater than one child.
As the labour was unendurable and unrepeatable.

If men gave birth
Tales of courage and suffering bravely borne
Would pale the faces of the uninitiated.
The Victoria Cross in the face of such fortitude, commonplace.

If men gave birth
In the clubs and pubs through out the land,
Stretch marks would be revealed and measured
To the admiring gaze of the cognoscenti.

If men gave birth
Eighteen years of paternity leave a right
Generous Allowances, benefits and tax breaks
To be expected by the paternal heroes.

If men gave birth
Who would raise the precious offspring?
The fathers worn out by being enceinte for nine months.
The answer is obvious, the answer is plain, WOMEN.

RJG

To quote you


'That is disgusting, men and women are equal! '

[floo]

To quote you


'That is disgusting, men and women are equal! '

I was waiting for that, you didn't disappoint!

[Nearly Sane]

I was waiting for that, you didn't disappoint!

if you will write contradictory posts, why shouldn't it be pointed out?

[floo]

if you will write contradictory posts, why shouldn't it be pointed out?

Oh come on don't be pedantic my dear, my poem was meant as a tease. My comment about the man tax is serious, it isn't right to tax one gender more than the other, anymore than it is right to pay a man more than a woman for doing the same job.

[Nearly Sane]

Oh come on don't be pedantic my dear, my poem was meant as a tease. My comment about the man tax is serious, it isn't right to tax one gender more than the other, anymore than it is right to pay a man more than a woman for doing the same job.

in which case you do support women being charged more for equivalent goods, which is what is being challenged by the shop

[floo]

in which case you do support women being charged more for equivalent goods, which is what is being challenged by the shop

Of course men and women should pay the same for their goods, but two wrongs don't make a right!

[Nearly Sane]

Of course men and women should pay the same for their goods, but two wrongs don't make a right!

So in the case of the shop charging men and women the same for equivalent goods, they are wrong?

[Aruntraveller]

Oh come on don't be pedantic my dear, my poem was meant as a tease. My comment about the man tax is serious, it isn't right to tax one gender more than the other, anymore than it is right to pay a man more than a woman for doing the same job.

It wasn't a tease I've noticed this tendancy with you before Floo.

If men were to do this to women nowadays we would rightly be told off. Some women seem to think it is ok to go on about man flu and your above nonsense as if it is acceptable, it isn't.

As I have pointed out before women are always claiming that they can multitask much better than men. They can if you count walking and bitching at the same time as multi-tasking.

[floo]

It wasn't a tease I've noticed this tendancy with you before Floo.

If men were to do this to women nowadays we would rightly be told off. Some women seem to think it is ok to go on about man flu and your above nonsense as if it is acceptable, it isn't.

As I have pointed out before women are always claiming that they can multitask much better than men. They can if you count walking and bitching at the same time as multi-tasking.

It was a tease, but if you guys want to take offence please yourselves!

[Humph Warden Bennett]

Samuel Johnson (the diarist) was asked what he thought was the difference between men and women, he replied... wait for it!

"I really can't conceive".

Round of applause for John.

[Maeght]

Maybe in the future due to modern technology men will be able to conceive!

If Men Gave Birth

If men gave birth
The world would be under populated.
No family greater than one child.
As the labour was unendurable and unrepeatable.

If men gave birth
Tales of courage and suffering bravely borne
Would pale the faces of the uninitiated.
The Victoria Cross in the face of such fortitude, commonplace.

If men gave birth
In the clubs and pubs through out the land,
Stretch marks would be revealed and measured
To the admiring gaze of the cognoscenti.

If men gave birth
Eighteen years of paternity leave a right
Generous Allowances, benefits and tax breaks
To be expected by the paternal heroes.

If men gave birth
Who would raise the precious offspring?
The fathers worn out by being enceinte for nine months.
The answer is obvious, the answer is plain, WOMEN.

RJG

Sexist nonsense.

[ippy]

There are other differences between us, other than the obvious, like for example, it's a fact the loss of speech happens far more often with men than it does with women simply because women's brains are wired in a differing way to a man's brain, the great majority of men have one speech area in their brains as compared to the average woman's brain has three areas in her brain that deal with language.

With the information above it becomes quite obvious why, post stroke, a loss of speech happens more frequently to men and there are several other, not so obvious, areas where we differ too.

ippy

[Harrowby Hall]

, the great majority of men have one speech area in their brains as compared to the average woman's brain has three areas in her brain that deal with language.

Really? I know that it is over 40 years now since I did any serious neurophysiology, but this is the first time I have heard this. The big sex difference deal then was the belief that the corpus callosum was larger in women than men but this seems to have been discounted now.

[ippy]

Really? I know that it is over 40 years now since I did any serious neurophysiology, but this is the first time I have heard this. The big sex difference deal then was the belief that the corpus callosum was larger in women than men but this seems to have been discounted now.

I can only refer you to post one on this thread, I haven't heard of any challenge to this book, however I will ask around.

ippy 

[Maeght]

I can only refer you to post one on this thread, I haven't heard of any challenge to this book, however I will ask around.

ippy

Where does it say that in post one?

[Harrowby Hall]

I have just spent a few minutes trying to find out what I can about Allan Pease. There is a Wikipedia entry but it contains nothing other than a list of books he has apparently written.

There is an entry in www.goodreads.com which states the following:

Allan Pease is an Australian author and motivational speaker. Despite having no education in psychology, neuroscience, or psychiatry, he has managed to establish himself as an "expert on relationships".

Originally a musician, he became a successful life insurance salesman, he started a career as a speaker and trainer in sales and latterly in body language. This resulted in a popular sideline of audio tapes, many of which feature his irreverent wit.

His best-selling book Body Language brought him international recognition. It has been followed by several others. He is quite well known in Australia and during the 1980s he was an occasional TV analyst for political debates where he would analyze the body language and overall performance of the contestants.

There are certainly sex differences in the use of language and girls acquire language skills earlier than boys. The traditional view of this has been that testosterone slows down the development of particular areas in the brain, but I don't think that there is any suggestion that there are serious anatomical differences - to the extent that males brains lack structures that female brains possess. I suspect that Mr Pease may not be the most reliable of sources.