We have all heard the expression that women come from Venus and men come from Mars.
Traditionally, each has been markedly different personality characteristics, something that research in psychology has always been interested in addressing, not without finding controversies along the way.
What are the personality differences between men and women? Are they as flashy as you think? Is it due to culture or are there really biological factors behind that explain them? We will try to resolve these issues in this article.
That woman is attributed to personality traits different from those of men is something that does not turn out to attract attention. Everyone, even if they do not recognize it, has a preconceived idea of what masculinity is and what femininity is and, therefore, also has, to a greater or lesser extent, prejudices associated with people belonging to one of the two biologicals.
The psychological differences between men and women have always aroused interest, not only from personality psychologists but also philosophers, artists, doctors and many more.
The traditional image in the West is that men are less sensitive than women, with a greater degree of emotional stability. The woman has been associated with tenderness, warmth, empathy, and sympathy, while the man is seen more like a hard and distant person. In addition, and according to collective thinking, the man with traditionally feminine features or the woman with the masculine, in the most are seen as fewer men or fewer women, respectively.
Be that as it may, what can be seen is that personality differences have traditionally been associated in terms of male and female categories. The big question behind it has been whether these really were as markedly significant as it has always been supposed to be and to what extent they depended on what is culturally gender or what biologically.
The investigation, over the last twenty years, has been partially agreed. This has given strength, although relative, to classical ideas as to how men and women are in terms of personality, agreeing that personality traits in both have a high inheritable component and remain stable throughout the development of the person.
When talking about personality traits in psychology, the following definition is usually used: consistencies in the affection thought and behavior of a person who remains more or less stable throughout situations and their individual development, having a high Predictability throughout the person’s life
Within the study of personality, the most used conceptualization is the one proposed by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa, the Five Factors Model. This model divides personality into five dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, cordiality, and responsibility. Each of these dimensions is made up of facets, which help to specify, by thinly spinning, the personality of the person.
Within extraversion, there are several facets, among which we can take as an example of assertiveness and positive emotions. Two people can be, in quantitative terms, equally extraverted, but one can be more assertive while the other can have more positive emotions.
As well as other researchers before and after their study, have found that there are indeed important differences in this dimension between men and women.
In the vast majority of studies, it is observed that women have higher scores in this dimension compared to men. This, in addition, can be related to the risk of suffering from psychological disorders.