Exploring the Science of Sex Differences: 15 Fascinating Findings
A special edition Linkfest
Welcome to my first special edition Linkfest: a collection of links to papers and articles on one specific topic. The topic this time is sex differences. Among other things, we’ll look at…
Testosterone and toy preferences
Sex differences in personality
Sex differences in sexual psychology
What gay men and lesbians can tell us about the nature and nurture of sex differences
New research on the greater male variability hypothesis
You can access the complete collection of Linkfests here.
Testosterone and Toy Preferences
1. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a disorder of sexual development involving exposure to high levels of testosterone in the womb. A recent study found that girls with CAH have more male-typical toy preferences and color preferences than unaffected girls: They’re less interested in dolls compared to cars, and less keen on pink compared to blue. Note that the preference for pink vs. blue probably isn’t directly innate; instead, “girls with CAH may have learned they do not enjoy stereotypical toys for girls, often colored pink, and pink coloring may subsequently diminish their preference for a car.” Link.
Sex Differences in Eyewitness Memory
2. Although men and women don’t differ in their overall eyewitness memory, they do excel in different areas. Women tend to recall more details about people, whereas men tend to recall more details about the surrounding environment. This fits nicely with the well-established finding that, on average, women are more people-oriented than men, whereas men are more things-oriented than women. Link.
Sex, Interests, and Dreams
3. The people vs. things sex difference is one of the largest, most robust sex differences ever documented. It’s also one of the most important, contributing to gender gaps in education, career choice - and even people’s dreams: Boys and men have more dreams about things and objects; girls and women have more dreams about social interactions (other than sex and aggression). Link.