Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is a popular book about gender differences. Are men and women really as different as this popular book title suggests? Utilize the empirical evidence regarding potential gender differences in personality and cognitive abilities to defend your position.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Although some stable differences exist between men and women in the areas of cognitive abilities, personality variables, physical and mental health, and mating strategies, the differences are quite small. In general, there are more similarities between men and women than there are differences. In 1974, psychologists Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Jacklin conducted a meta-analysis and found significant gender differences in verbal ability, quantitative ability, and visual-spatial ability. Females excel at verbal tasks and men excel at math and spatial tasks. With regards to personality, men tend to be higher in risk taking and assertiveness, and women tend to score higher on measures of anxiety, agreeableness, and warmth. Also, men score higher on self-esteem related to physical appearance, athleticism and self-satisfaction, whereas women score higher on moral and ethical self-esteem. Research also shows that men are less likely to express emotion. But while women are more likely to express emotion, that is not true for socially unacceptable emotions like anger. Lastly, men and women show differences across dating and mating strategies. Research shows that women are more likely to look for someone slightly older and with good earnings potential, while men seek women who are younger and physically attractive. Further, men are more likely to look for short-term or casual sexual relationships and to have a greater variety of sexual partners. Men are also more willing to engage in riskier behaviors to attract a mate.