The main personality differences between men and women

Summary of the differences between women's and men's personalities, statistically.

We have all heard the expression that women come from Venus and men come from Mars.

Traditionally, each sex has been attributed markedly different personality characteristics, something that research in psychology has always been interested in addressing, not without encountering controversy along the way.

What are the personality differences between men and women? Are they as striking as people think? Are they due to culture or are there really Biological factors behind them? We will try to resolve these questions in this article.

Personality differences between men and women

That women are attributed different personality traits than men is not surprising. Everyone, even if they do not recognize it, has a preconceived idea of what masculinity and femininity are, and therefore also has, to a greater or lesser extent, prejudices associated with people of different sexes. and, therefore, also has, to a greater or lesser extent, prejudices associated with people belonging to one of the two biological sexes.

The psychological differences between men and women have always aroused the interest not only of personality psychologists, but also of philosophers, artists, physicians and many others.

The traditional image in the West is that men are less sensitive than women, with a greater degree of emotional stability. Women have been associated with tenderness, warmth, empathy and sympathy, while men are seen more as hard and distant. In addition, and in accordance with collective thinking, men with traditionally feminine traits or women with masculine ones, in the most sexist cases, are seen as less manly or less womanly, respectively.

Be that as it may, what can be seen is that there have traditionally been associated personality differences in terms of male and female categories. The big question behind this has been whether these were really as markedly significant as it has always been assumed to be and whether they really were. as it has always been assumed to be and to what extent they depended on what is culturally gender or biologically sex.

Research, over the last twenty years, has partially agreed. This has given strength, albeit relative, to the classical ideas as to how men and women are in terms of personality, agreeing that personality traits in both sexes have a high heritable component and remain stable throughout a person's development.

Sex Differences and the Five Factor Model

When speaking of personality traits in psychology, the following definition is often used: consistencies in a person's affect, thinking, and behavior that remain more or less stable across situations and over the course of a person's development. throughout situations and individual development, having a high predictability throughout the person's life.

Within the study of personality, the most widely used conceptualization is the one proposed by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa, the Five Factor Model.the Five Factor Model. This model divides personality into five dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and responsibility. Each of these dimensions is composed of facets, which help to pinpoint the personality of the person.

Within extraversion there are several facets, among which we can take assertiveness and positive emotions as examples. Two people may be, in quantitative terms, equally extraverted, but one may be more assertive while the other may have more positive emotions.

In 2001, McCrae and Costa, along with their colleague Antonio Terracciano, conducted research on gender differences between cultures to elucidate what the differences between the two genders were and whether they were consistent across cultures.. That is, whether and to what degree what is traditionally seen in the West, insensitive men and cordial women, was something that also occurred in other cultures. The following is a summary of their findings, going from dimension to dimension.

Neuroticism

Neuroticism refers to negative affect, i.e., those personality traits that cause a person to personality traits that make a person prone to anxiety, anger, depression and other stressful emotions..

Both McCrae and Costa, as well as other researchers before and after their study, have found that there are indeed important differences in this dimension between men and women.

In the vast majority of studies, women have higher scores on this dimension than men. women have higher scores on this dimension compared to men.. This may also be related to the risk of suffering psychological disorders. Not surprisingly, with women having the highest scores on these traits, they are also the demographic group most at risk for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Within anxiety disorders, disorders such as phobias, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety and panic attack disorder are much more common in women. Disorders such as major depression, dysthymia and personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder are also more frequent in women.

However, it should be noted that within the neuroticism dimension there is one aspect that has attracted the attention of researchers, since it seems to be related very differently from study to study between men and women. This is the case of anger, or rather, hostility. Some studies have found that men have higher levels of hostility than women, which would be consistent with the traditional image of violent men in cultures such as the Mediterranean.

However, in other studies this is not the case. Either women are seen to show greater hostility, generally verbalized rather than converted into physical aggression or, even, both genders do not show any difference in this aspect.

2. Extraversion and cordiality

If we go back to the first studies on personality differences between men and women, as in the case of Bern (1974), we can find that, when it comes to interpersonal traits, there is talk of femininity and masculinity.

These dimensions, nowadays highly criticized, would refer to which traits related to extraversion and cordiality would be associated with women and which with men. Basically, according to traditional models, masculinity is referred to as a measure of dominance, while femininity is referred to as a measure of dominance.whereas femininity is referred to in terms of kindness, tenderness, love, nurturing care...

Subsequent studies, which avoid using such controversial labels as masculinity and femininity, have tried to address the two related dimensions: extraversion and kindness/cordiality. In McCrae and Costa's model, extraversion would be related to the masculine dominance of the traditional model, while kindness would be related to the desire to please and not generate hostility, more related to femininity.

Women, according to research, tend to be more oriented toward kindness and tenderness.. However, it should be noted that there are studies that seem to indicate that women are more extraverted and, in others, that they are less so.

Within the extraversion dimension, there are two facets in which there are gender differences. Women score higher on the warmth facet, while men are more assertive.

3. Openness to experience

Men and women are viewed differently in terms of their cognitive style. This is not to say that one gender is more intelligent than the other, but rather that the way in which they choose to expand their cultural level and knowledge is different..

In the West, from a philosophical perspective, men have been seen as people guided by reason while women are guided by emotions, using both terms as opposites.

Within the Five Factor Model, and avoiding the pejorative use that has traditionally been made of this contrast, differences have been seen within the dimension of openness to experience depending on gender.

It is not that there are differences in terms of the dimension of openness to experience, but with respect to facets within it. Women score higher on facets such as aesthetics and feelings, while men score higher on the facet of ideas..

Women are also more sensitive to emotions. For example, in a study conducted by Eisenberg's group (1989), evidence was found that the female gender had a better ability to express and identify nonverbal language.

4. Responsibility

The studies here are not clear-cut. On the one hand, they do significant differences can be found during adolescence in terms of responsibility, with boys being much less responsible than girls. than girls. However, as they get older, things seem to even out.

What is noteworthy is the fact that, traditionally, men have been seen as less responsible, especially in carrying out acts of 'bravery' or, basically, risk-taking that may endanger their physical integrity. This pursuit of dangerous situations would be related to a strategy to achieve status within the peer group. within the peer group.

Explanations behind personality differences between genders

When dealing with human behavior and its heritability, theories have always been proposed, some taking into account biological aspects and others focusing on social factors. This has been part of the now classic debate on nurture and heredity, also called 'nature vs. nurture'. Below we will look at the two main approaches to explaining why there are personality differences between men and women.

Biological theories

These theories hold that sex-related differences are due to innate factors that have evolved through natural selection. through natural selection. Evolutionary psychology holds that the sexes differ in domains that have adaptive importance depending on whether one is male or female.

For example, females in mammals have the ability to be able to become pregnant, in addition to carrying out actions such as nurturing and nursing.

This would explain why human females have a greater predisposition to have a good relationship with their offspring. Women who are kinder and who behave with warmth and tenderness toward their children promote the survival of their children if this evolutionary approach is taken.

Other biological theories that have been put forward to explain why women are more prone to neuroticism-related problems, especially depression, have to do with hormones.

Although this has not been entirely clear over the decades, the possibility that women are more likely to suffer from neuroticism, especially depression, has been raised. the possibility has been raised that hormones such as estrogens influence the emotional stability and, also, the personality of the individuals themselves. of individuals.

The possibility has also been raised that different levels of androgens during early development influence aspects such as interests, activities and the manifestation of violent behavior.

Sociocultural theories

On the other hand, social psychology has advocated the idea that gender differences are due to factors more related to the culture itself.. Depending on the social role that men and women are expected to play in a given culture, they will try to behave accordingly.

This pressure, already present from childhood, makes people of both genders internalize the personality traits expected of them, making them part of this personality. It must be said that these theories are accompanied by a controversy as to whether gender roles are purely cultural creations or are something that has a biological basis and that culture has been responsible for exaggerating.

Cross-cultural studies

In an attempt to clarify the importance of biology and culture in relation to gender differences, McCrae and Costa, along with a host of other personality psychologists in countless studies, have carried out this approach in multiple cultures.

Cross-cultural studies, i.e., conducted in several cultures, provide evidence of the relative importance of biological versus cultural aspects in gender differences. in gender differences. The idea is that if personality traits are influenced more by genetics than by the environment, then it is to be expected that the same patterns will be repeated around the world.

As we indicated in the previous section, one of the explanations within the biological theories would be the fact that men and women, possessing different types of hormones, would consequently have different personality traits, being noteworthy the relationship of female hormones with emotional instability.

It should be noted that certain patterns have been found in most cultures, the classic one being that women are more cordial and sensitive than men. However, given how globalized the world is today, is it possible to know to what extent this is not true? is it possible to know to what extent this is not influenced by Western culture in the media?

If a historical review is made, it can be seen that, traditionally in most cultures, the role of leader, who as a general rule must be assertive and even violent, has been attributed to men, who, according to stereotypical ideas of gender, have these traits.

Bibliographical references:

• Costa, P. T., Jr., Terracciano, A., & McCrae, R. R. (2001). Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: Robust and surprising findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(2), 322-331.
• Del Giudice, M., Booth, T., and Irwing, P. (2012). The distance between Mars and Venus: Measuring global sex differences in personality. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29265.
• Kajonius, P. & Johnson, J. (2018). Sex differences in 30 facets of the five factor model of personality in the large public (N = 320,128). Personality and Individual Differences,129, 126-130.