Sexes really are worlds apart – study

LONDON: Ever suspected the opposite sex is from another planet? It seems they might as well.

Men and women really are different, according to a study, and while the differences may not come as a shock, the scale of them might.

Researchers found the average man and woman share only 10 percent of their personality traits. Psychologically, they may as well come from different worlds, along the lines of the bestselling book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

However, when it comes to the remaining 90 percent, the results may be considered a little more predictable.

Women, for example, display higher levels of sensitivity and warmth, while men are generally more emotionally stable and dominant.

Psychologists at Manchester University and in Italy analysed the results of personality tests given to 10 000 people and measured 15 traits.

Women scored higher on sensitivity, warmth and feelings of apprehension, while men fared better on emotional stability, dominance and rule consciousness, or sense of duty.

The researchers said the “extremely large” personality differences between the sexes could have implications in the workplace.

Co-author Dr Paul Irwing, of Manchester University’s Psychometrics at Work Research Group, said that contrary to the conventional view, there is an extremely large difference.

“It sounds highly stereotypical, but you find a huge proportion of women in the caring and socially related professions, such as teaching and nursing and administration.”

But Dr Irwing stressed there are still “massive individual differences” between men and women, partly because of personal variations in hormone levels.

And Janet Hyde, professor of psychology and women’s studies at the University of WisconsinMadison, said studies based on millions of people showed men and women are very similar on most psychological variables. – Daily Mail