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During infancy, males have superior visual acuity. In contrast, female infants demonstrate better auditory discrimination and localization. This leads to males have a greater interest in visual patterning and auditory sequencing for females. Even in adulthood, Kriegman (1999) cites Hutt, visual reinforcers are more effective in male conditioning while females find auditory stimuli more effective. Evolutionary psychologists would see these physical adaptations of the sexes as part of evolution, which then resulted in psychological dispositions and were affected by a social component as well.
Genetics and evolution, in Darwinian fashion, come into play for evolutionary psychologists considering biological factors responsible for gender differentiation in abilities and interests. Psychological gender differences, as surmised by Wood and Eagly (2002)
, were created by the asymmetrical parental investment of males and females. Ancestral women were more invested in offspring, by default with gestation and nursing. For this reason, they became choosier about their mates. Males had to compete for sexual access to women. For this reason, psychological traits such as aggression, competition, and risk taking were developed in males, and behaviors that favored being a good provider for their family were reinforced, not only physically through the males increased physical prowess, but also through the social constructs of the maternal position of the females. Man as competitive risk-takers and women as nurturers is a theme reported in a variety of research (Beckmann & Menkhoff, 2008; Brody & Hall, 2000; Byrnes, Miller & Schafer, 1999; Feingold, 1994; Kring & Gordon, 1998) Cunningham and Russell (1994) note that this also explains gender differences such as man's preference for physical attractiveness, in a mate, whereas women prefer stability and status. Once again, although innate biological features factor into a gender's preference for certain interests and abilities, sociological factors also have an impact.
Conclusion:
The debate regarding what specifically causes the psychological differences in men and women is certain to continue. Femininity and masculinity are concepts that are often attributed to either the innate nature of the individual or purportedly forced upon the individual by society itself and the nurturing of well-meaning family. However, upon closer inspection of previous research,...
One cannot ignore the innate traits uncovered of biological twins raised in completely different environments, yet still demonstrating certain identical characteristics. Equally, the sociological aspects of the definition and expectations placed on an individual, from infancy, in relation to their gender cannot be ignored either. Just like the caveman -- although there was an innate ability to be the protector and provider for the family, the social environment reinforced this ability.
references and collective action. American Economic Review, 78(2). Retrieved May 11, 2009, from Business Source Complete.
Money, J., & Ehrhardt, A. Man and woman, boy and girl. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1972.
Scarr, S. (Oct 1993). Biological and cultural diversity: The legacy of Darwin for development. Child Development, 64(5). Retrieved May 11, 2009, from JSTOR.
Wood, W. & Eagly, A. (2002). A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin, 128(5), p. 699-727.
Gender Differences in Leadersdhip Gender Differences in Leadership Is it possible to have different women and men leaders? This is a question surrounded with substantial controversy. However, the notion that there is a difference in the way men and women lead is dominant in management literature, which provides information for practicing managers. Some scholars who support this difference suggest that women have a "female voice" overlooked in theory and research. On the
Such measures include providing positive examples of students and professionals who have garnered significant achievements in math, allowing students who may feel symptoms of stereotype threat to express their talent in other areas outside of math (by incorporating those areas into lessons and classroom engagement), and by downplaying differences in groups via the reframing of tasks to decrease levels of competitiveness amongst students (Singletary et al., 2009, p. 2)
, 2003, p. 84). The authors go on to propose two changes in gender relations that impact relations in the family genre. The first (85) is that women and men would split the time each spends in the workplace and also split the time each spends conducting unpaid household duties as well. The second change would be to "…allocate…substantial parental time to the care of very young children" (Gornick, 85). In
On the one hand there was the view that gender or rather gender differences were something that had been created by man, culture and society. This was contrasted by the view that gender differences were not constructed but was in fact innate and part of the natural order to things. They were also linked to religious views and conceptions. This view however found it difficult to account for variations
Men believed that a drinking woman was more likely than a sober woman to engage in illicit sex; they feared the sexuality of sober women, and the fears increased with each cup of wine or jug of beer. Nonetheless, women had their cups and their jugs. Some historians have failed to recognise the strong connection between drink and sexual activity in traditional Europe and have as a consequence attributed
Gender Differences in Communication Men and women are different one from the other in looks, in sexuality, in their social roles and in their communication styles as well. This paper compares and contrasts how males and females are different in their styles of communication. Gender Differences in Language Since humans in this society spend approximately "70% of our working hours communicating" (and 30% of that time entails the spoken language), this is a