Men & Women Are Different Species, Psychologically Speaking

What’s the Latest Development?

Men and women have fundamentally different personalities, says new research from the University of Manchester, in the UK. Based on a personality test of 10,000 Americans aged 15 to 92, the lead researcher Paul Irwing said: “Psychologically, men and women are almost a different species.” The test asked individuals to rate their own character according to 15 different personality facets including warmth, emotional stability, dominance, liveliness, social boldness, sensitivity and openness to change.

What’s the Big Idea?

The new findings run counter to past research which concluded that men and women are more emotionally similar than different. Now, one of the researchers who contributed to those studies is taking exception to the British report. Janet Shibley Hyde, a psychology professor at the U of Wisconsin, says men and women may have assessed their personalities in ways that conform to gender stereotypes. She also takes exception to how the data was analyzed, saying the results exaggerate small differences which may exist.

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