Gender Differences

There are differences between men and women, but most scientific studies show that gender differences in psychological characteristics are small. Men and women do not have radically different brains, personality traits, cognitive skills, or behaviors. There are some differences on average, but men and women are not the black versus white opposites that many people believe. (Even the phrase opposite sex encourages this view.)

There have been numerous media reports about just how different men and women are. The former president of Harvard, Lawrence H. Summers, said that women are not naturally inclined toward science. The media report that adolescent girls have extremely low self-esteem. A best-selling book claims that Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. However, men and women are not from different planets, or even different continents here on Earth. The size of most gender differences is more consistent with men being from Minnesota and women being from Iowa.

Referring to psychological gender differences as small means that the effects are between 1/4 and 1/2 of a standard deviation (a statistical term; 1/4 of a standard deviation is a small difference, 1/2 is moderate, and more than 3/4 is large). So that means that gender explains less than 5% of the variation among people in most psychological characteristics. In comparison, the gender difference in height, for example, is almost two standard deviations, so gender explains 50% of the variation among people in height. Yet there are many women who are taller than many men. That said, what does research say about the differences that exist? This entry will review four major areas of difference: cognitive abilities, personality traits and selfesteem, attitudes, and behavior.