by Brian T. Lynch, MSW
Are men and woman really so different? Newly published research suggests that how men and women think may be even more different than we suspect!
You have probably noticed that we humans come in two genetically distinct biological groups, males and females. All other genetic distinctions are trivial by comparison. We usually assume that our genetic differences are limited to these physiological distinctions. We take for granted that all social differentiation between men and woman is driven by these obvious biological traits. More recently we have accepted that gender roles may be malleable characteristics molded in childhood according to the prevailing social norms. Strip away the gender imprinting from society and we might find no psycho/social differences at all.
Support for this idea has come from scientific research which found that the frequencies with which various personality traits are exhibited in males and females are not so broad (see Hyde’s “gender similarities hypothesis”, 2005, Am Psychol 60: 581–592.). This suggested a lot of overlap in the constellation of personality traits between men and woman. At the same time there is a growing body of scientific evidence pointing to a genetic component in personality development. This support the idea that both nature and nurture contribute to the person we become.
Now a new statistically sophisticated analysis of this earlier data on gender and personality traits appears to turned the previous findings upside down. In a paper entitled “The Distance Between Mars and Venus: Measuring global sex differences in personality,” three researchers named Marco Del Guidice, Tom Booth and Paul Irwing looked not at the frequency of distinct personality traits in males and females, but at multi-variant patterns of personality traits that appear to be associated with gender. http://bit.ly/x2SsfL
In their analysis of these statistically correlated patterns, the researchers concluded there may be as little as a 10% overlap in the personality make-up of men and women. This difference in gender personality traits is larger than previous differences found in other specific traits, such as aggression rates between the sexes, according to the researchers. In their paper they also bring in the views of some evolutionary psychologist who hold that:
“divergent selection pressures on males and females are expected to produce consistent – and often substantial – psychological differences between the sexes. By the logic of sexual selection theory and parental investment theory, large sex differences are most likely to be found in traits and behaviors that ultimately relate to mating and parenting. More generally, sex differences are expected in those domains in which males and females have consistently faced different adaptive problems.”
From their academic perspective the authors go on to say, “Given the contrast between the predictions derived from evolutionary theory and those based on the gender similarities hypothesis, there is a pressing need for accurate empirical estimates of sex differences in personality.” From an academic point of view this study will almost certainly intensify research and professional debate in this area of study. Findings of this magnitude always do, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs, which take time to develop.
From my perspective, if future evidence does convinces society that men and women have innately different templates from which our personalities emerge, this belief will have profound and far reaching consequences. For now, however, this news simply makes for interesting parlor talk.
Data Driven Viewpoints 
“This does not surprise me” will be the response from the majority of married men & women. Scientific studies fascinate me…always have. Such studies are vital, but can also be so misleading as errors in procedures, statistical modeling, etc., seem to becoming more common. Massaging the numbers is not just done in big business anymore, it is done with anyone that has something to gain.
“Show me what you want, and I will support it with statistics” (this was my motto at my first job in Hong Kong in the 90s). While there are experts out there who are to be trusted (folks who not only search for the real truth but fully understand what they are doing as well, I worry that there is a rise in psuedo-experts that give science a black-eye.
Then again, there always has been this element to any trade, and perhaps now there are so many checks & balances that these charlatans are being expose…and that would be a good thing.
I agree that statistics can be very tricky. In the study in question, the main thing that changed was how the data was analyzed.
My dad always said that someday, scientists would discover what he already knew… that men and women were two completely different species, who just happened to be able to procreate together – –
LOL
Is someday finally here? 🙂
Ha! It sounds funny, I know. Like it is mirroring a stereo type. But maybe there is some truth to it, that at some level men and woman are more compatible than similar.