These findings explain a lot and can be very helpful in marriage and parenting etc.
1] Women recognize signs of sadness in a face 90% of the time, while men do only 40% of the time.
-This may be why women cry 4 times more easily than men; it's a visual display of sadness that will be obvious to any male. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 119)
-A Stanford study may even have shown that little girls recognize faked facial expressions (specifically fear) better than little boys.
(Mumme, Donna L., Anne Fernald, and Carla Herrera. "Infants' Responses to Facial and Vocal Emotional Signals in a Social Referencing Paradigm.")
2] Groups of boys play differently than groups of girls
Boys: larger play groups, they focus on the game itself, rough n' tumble, very competitive, confrontational, establish dominance & test hierarchies, claim territory and monopolize toys, show off their physical strength, struggle for social rank, and are more likely to use threats.
Girls: focus on relationship building, take turns 20 times more often than boys do, more likely to make collaborative proposals (like starting their sentences with let's), their pretend play is usually about caregiving and relationships. (Brizendine. “The Male Brain” 18-23) (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 22-24) (Harris, Judith Rich. “The Nurture Assumption” 214).
You know what's the most interesting thing about group play? That when given the option, boys and girls naturally segregate. This only changes when there's not enough kids, then boys and girls all play together. Could it be that kids prefer playing with those similar to themselves? (Documented in the west as well as in hunter gatherer societies)
3] Boys and Girls play with different toys
A team at Concordia University studied almost 100 one and a half year olds and their preference for toys. The girls had a preference for dolls, and the boys had a strong preference for trucks.
Many would argue this is socialized gender behavior…but an important thing to note about one and a half year olds is that they have trouble assigning themselves and others the correct gender. In fact, the boys, because they develop slightly slower than girls, did a poorer job in gender assignment than the girls.
If we assume that playing with sex specific toys is a social construct, then it would make sense for the girls, who have a better understanding of gender, to have a stronger preference for girly toys. But what they found was the opposite. I'll repeat the results; the girls had a preference for dolls, and the boys had an even stronger preference for trucks. These results were duplicated in 9 month olds, who had an even poorer understanding of gender. (Sax, Leonard. “Why Gender Matters” 27)
Even with direct intervention from parents & teachers, who encourage gender-neutral (translation: gender opposite) play, girls will choose dolls over trucks as soon as they are given the choice. Without choice, girls will play with their trucks as though they were dolls and boys will use their dolls as if they were swords or hammers.
4] Boys are more likely to take risks
Researchers in Missouri studied the responses of kids that rode a stationary bicycle while watching a hyper-realistic simulation. When confronted with a hazard, the boys were much slower to break than the girls. If it was real, many of the boys would have been seriously injured.
The boys also reported feeling excited during a simulated collision, while the girls reported feeling fearful.
(Sax, Leonard. “Why Gender Matters” 43)
5] Males are more likely to exhibit aggression physically while females are more likely to exhibit aggression verbally
– A male's aggression pathways are more directly connected to brain areas for physical action.
– A female's aggression pathways are closer linked to verbal functions. (Brizendine, “The Female Brain” 42)
– Males have a larger amygdala which is the center for aggression.
– Females have a larger and faster maturing prefrontal cortex which is responsible for inhibiting aggression (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 102 & 129) (Campbell, and Stockley. "The Evolutionary Psychology of Women's Aggression.")
– Males have a more active right amygdala which is linked to taking action & negative emotions.
– Females have a more active left amygdala which responsible for mental reaction rather than physical reaction.
(Lanteaume, L.; Khalfa, S.; Régis, J.; Marquis, P.; Chauvel, P.; Bartolomei, F. (2006). "Emotion Induction After Direct Intracerebral Stimulations of Human Amygdala")
-Some men have what is called auto-catalytic anger, which means it becomes self reinforcing, it inhibits their fear and actually produces sensations of pleasure. (Brizendine. “The Male Brain” 105)
-Although a woman is slower to act out of anger physically, her verbal response is difficult to stop once it gets going. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 131)
6] Women use both sides of the brain to respond to emotional experiences while men use just one
A study from Stanford University found that when a female was shown an emotional image, 9 different areas of her brain lit up, while only 2 lit up in the men. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 127)
On average, women retain stronger memories for emotional events than men. (Hamann, Stephan. "Sex Differences in the Responses of the Human Amygdala.")
7] Males and females are not empathetic in the same way
We have two emotional systems: the mirror neuron system (MNS) and the temporal-parietal junction system (TPJ). The MNS is responsible for emotional empathy; it helps one feel what the other person is feeling. The TPJ is responsible for cognitive empathy; it actually helps one distance themselves from the person's emotions, focusing instead on analytically solving the problem. Both sexes start their empathy process in the MNS, but the male brain quickly switches over to the TPJ. (Brizendine. “The Male Brain” 97)
We see this clash all the time. A woman will tell her man about a problem, looking for emotional support, but he, if unable to actually solve her problem, won't see the value of having a lengthy conversation about it.
The male's mirror-neuron systems is also more fragile, and can be stunted by pacifier use. (“Male and Female Differences in Nonconscious Mimicry: A Systematic Review.” Journal of European Psychology Students)
The most interesting study that indicates that women are more emotionally empathetic was conducted at the Institute of Neurology in London. They tested couples; first the women were given a range of electric shocks. Then their partners were hooked up to the same treatment. It was indicated to the women when and what kind of shock was being administered to their partner, and even though the females couldn't see or hear their loved one, the same pain areas of their brains that had activated when they themselves were shocked, lit up as they learned their partners were being subjected to the same treatment. Researchers were unable to duplicate this result with males.
8] Females are more concerned with social approval and preserving relationships than males. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 21)
– Men tend to get a positive chemical boost from conflict and competition, while in women, conflict is more likely to elicit negative chemical reactions, creating stress, fear & sadness. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 40)
– If a woman feels one of her close relationships is in danger, she may experience a change in her serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine levels, which creates a negative brain reaction on a similar spectrum to a small seizure. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 130)
– Females have more circuits dedicated to monitoring the closeness of their relationships than males. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 41)
9] Males are aroused under stress while females are turned off
Men get an extra sexual kick when stress levels are high. In fact, they will bond better with a female in a stressful or aggressive environment.
By contrast, a female is more likely to reject a male's advances in a stressful environment. Cortisol blocks the reception of oxytocin in female brains, shutting down a woman's desire for physical touch.
10] Men are easier to sexually arouse than women
The center of sexual performance anxiety (the anterior cingulate cortex), is smaller in men than in women, and as mentioned, if the woman's amygdala is active, she'll have a hard time getting aroused. (Wright, Robert. "The Moral Animal" 129)
11] Men are more motivated by sex than women
-Males have double the brain space and processing power devoted to sex. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 5)
-This change starts as early as 8 weeks after conception, once testosterone cooks the fetus, enlarging the hypothalamus. A second massive surge of testosterone hits at puberty, strengthening the brain connections responsible for smell & touch.
-Teen boys typically have three times more sex drive than girls of the same age, a difference that often persists through life. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 89)
– A woman's sexual interest decreases in the last two weeks of her menstrual cycle, when progesterone is high. This obviously does not happen to men…unless progesterone is administered. They do this with sex offenders to reduce their impulses. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 90-92)
– One study scanned the brains of men and women observing a neutral scene of a male and female having a conversation. The male's sexual areas immediately lit up; the female's did not. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 5)
12] Men are attracted to youth & beauty. Women are attracted to status.
David Buss studied over 10,000 individuals from 37 different cultures and found that there are universal preferences from both sexes when it comes to choosing one's mate.
Men want:
– symmetrical
– young
– healthy-looking
– and fertile
A man's visual cortex is pre-wired to notice hourglass figures (Brizendine. “The Male Brain” 52) and it takes the male brain only one fifth of a second to classify a woman as pretty or not. (Brizendine. “The Male Brain” 68)
Women want:
– symmetrical
-generous
-trustworthy
– about 3 years older
– 4 inches taller
– high status
– an investment in her and their offspring
– security
– resources or the potential for resources
This is even true for females that are completely financially secure. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 63) (Wright, Robert. "The Moral Animal" 60-61, 65)
13] Men pursue, women are pursued
The coyness of females and the sexual boldness of males seems to be universal. Even in tribal cultures, untouched by western principles, men do the wooing.
14]
High self-esteem makes teen girls less promiscuous, but it makes teen boys more promiscuous
(Wright, Robert. "The Moral Animal" 85)
15] A man is more likely to sleep with a stranger than a woman
Many studies confirm this. For example: in an experiment on college campuses, three quarters of men approached by an unknown woman agreed to have sex with her. When the reverse was done, 0 women agreed to the casual sex. (Wright, Robert. "The Moral Animal" 34)
16] When it comes to casual sex, women care about intelligence, men don't
In a study where men and women were asked about the minimal level of intelligence they would accept in someone they were dating, the general response for both was average. Then they asked what the minimal level of intelligence for someone they would have sexual relations with…the women said above average, while the men said below average.
17] Men are more consistent than women
Men go through several hormonal changes during their life. In the womb, throughout adolescence, during puberty (20x testosterone increase from 9-15), when fathering a child, and as they age, but a woman's hormonal shifts and changes are much more frequent and severe.
Women are constantly under the influence of their monthly hormonal shifts, and they are more severe than we would like to believe. At the start of a woman's cycle she will experience a 25% growth of connections in the hippocampus. Estrogen will stimulate brain function, making girls socially relaxed and sharp.
Then, during ovulation, progesterone reverses the actions of estrogen and destroys the new connections. During the last two weeks of the cycle, progesterone causes her brain to be sedated, irritable, and unfocused. Then progesterone collapses, leaving the female brain sensitive, sentimental, stressed and even hostile. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 45)
This can make a female act very different from week to week. It can augment or amputate parts of her personality. It can leave her swinging between interpretations of the world. For example when her estrogen peaks right before ovulation she may feel incredible verbal intimacy and sex drive, but when androgen peaks she may be more prone to aggressive outbursts. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 47)
Another thing…a woman's hormones may bottom out right before her period and then not replenish fast enough which prevents a much needed serotonin boost, leaving the brain irritated. This is otherwise known as PMS and it happens to 10% of women. (Brizendine. “The Female Brain” 47)
18] Our friendships are different
Most women have many friendships which together act like an extensive emotional support network. A man's friendships are quite different; they revolve around common interests, activities, competition and work. Actually a man's significant other is often the only person outside of his immediate family that can offer him emotional support.
Now pair that with men being less likely to seek help and you get males being at a much higher risk for suicide than females, with single males being the most likely demographic to take their own life. (Sax, Leonard. “Why Gender Matters” 131)
