Sex differences in humans
Similar findings are also reported in the sport medicine literature where males typically account for >60% of the individuals studied.
[4] The findings of these studies have often been applied across the sexes and healthcare providers have assumed a uniform approach in treating both male and female patients.
Therefore, direct sex differences are usually binary in expression, although the deviations in more complex biological processes produce a variety of exceptions.
Sexual dimorphism for specific traits in humans can also vary between population groups, which may be due to a variety of factors such as environmental influences, genetic variation or hormonal effects.
Tests focus on possible differences in areas such as IQ, spatial reasoning, aggression, emotion, and brain structure and function.
[18][19] 2008 research found that, for grades 2 to 11, there were no significant gender differences in math skills among the general population.
[23] Studies on this topic explore the possibility of social influences on how both sexes perform in cognitive and behavioral tests.
[24][25] In his book titled Gender, Nature, and Nurture, psychologist Richard Lippa found that there were large differences in women's and men's preferences for realistic occupations (for example, mechanic or carpenters) and moderate differences in their preferences for social and artistic occupations.
[26] Hartung & Widiger (1998) found that many kinds of mental illnesses and behavioral problems show gender differences in prevalence and incidence.
The research focused on cognitive variables (for example, reading comprehension, mathematics), communication (for example, talkativeness, facial expressions), social and personality (for example, aggression, sexuality), psychological well-being, and motor behaviors.
A few exceptions were some motor behaviors (such as throwing distance) and some aspects of sexuality (such as attitudes about casual sex), which show the largest gender differences.
Arguably, they cause harm in numerous realms, including women’s opportunities in the workplace, couple conflict and communication, and analyses of self-esteem problems among adolescents.
"[30] However, another paper argued that the gender similarities hypothesis was untestable as currently formulated because it does not provide a metric for the psychological importance of relevant dimensions, nor a rule for counting dimensions; a small number of relevant differences may be more significant than a massive number of trivial similarities.
[31] In 2011, Irina Trofimova found a significant female advantage in time on the lexical task and on the temperament scale of social-verbal tempo, and a male advantage on the temperament scale of physical endurance which were more pronounced in young age groups and faded in older groups.
[33][34] In 2021, Lise Eliot et al found no difference in overall male/female abilities in verbal, spatial or emotion processing.
In particular, Lee Ellis' evolutionary neuroandrogenic theory posits that sexual selection has led to increased exposure to testosterone in males, causing greater competitive behavior which could lead to criminality.
[51] This preference, among both sexes, for male leadership in the workplace has continued unabated for sixty years according to Gallup surveys.
[53] External religious issues can also be examined from the "lens of gender" perspective embraced by some in feminism or critical theory and its offshoots.
There is potential that the concept can help to bring women's unpaid 'community and household labor',[56] vital to survival and development, to the attention of economists.
[60] The gap, also called the gender paradox of suicidal behavior, can vary significantly between different countries.
Numerous studies have found that women tend to be financially more risk-averse than men and hold safer portfolios.
