Author Question: Pick one area in which consistent differences have been found between men and women and discuss. ... (Read 60 times)

krzymel · **on:** Jun 21, 2018

Pick one area in which consistent differences have been found between men and women and discuss.

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Discuss the general concept of the fraternal birth order effect.

What will be an ideal response?

alexanderhamilton · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 21, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Answer: Obviously, this gives the student a great deal of scope. They may even choose to discuss a difference that is not particularly robust, but is of special interest to them. The main topics focused on in the textbook include:

The Five-Factor Model where Neuroticism is the main difference, though the conclusion of this section is that men and women are more similar than different.

Differences in aggression may be one of the best topics to use to answer this question. The basic point here would be that men tend to be physically aggressive and women tend to be verbally aggressive. When directly threatened, the difference in physical aggression disappears.

There are some differences in risk taking that could be discussed successfully. What is quite interesting is that in behaviors that are very dangerous, such as driving, smoking, and sexual activities, there are no significant differences between males and females.

Empathy, emotions, and helping behavior make for a fascinating discussion in that there are differences in attitudes and self-descriptions, but when it comes to physiological measures and actual behaviors, the differences are of style, not substance. Women describe themselves as more empathic and emotional, but men engage in more helping behavior.

Etc.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: One of the most robust or statistically significant findings in the search for the cause of sexual orientation is the finding that gay men tend to have a larger number of older brothers than nongay men. This has led to a theory known as the fraternal birth order effect. The number of older sisters, the time interval between birth, and the age of mother or father do not have similar correlations. The textbook estimates that about 15 of gay men can attribute their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order. It is also estimated that for each additional older brother that an individual has, the odds of same sex attraction increase by 33. For a couple the odds of a first son being gay is 2 and odds of a sixth son being gay are 6. (The student may go on to discuss the maternal immune hypothesis, even though it is not really required for this question. For that answer see question 71 below.)