Differences between men and women

Scientists have always been fascinated by the difference between men and women. But what have they discovered?

Talking to women makes men stupid

Researchers at a Dutch university studied the effect of female conversation on men’s brains. The results didn’t look too good for the guys.

After talking to a woman the man’s ability to complete a complex task such as mental arithmetic dropped dramatically. The researchers suggested that this was because men were putting all of their mental efforts into impressing their potential mate.

Women ‘more average’ than men

Lawrence Summers, a president of Harvard University, shocked both sexes by announcing that women were more likely to be ‘average’ when it came to intelligence.

He had reached this conclusion by examining SAT scores and discovering that far more men occupied the top and bottom of the league. As he put it “more geniuses, more idiots.”

Men talk more than women

Some studies have triumphantly claimed that women talk up to three times as much as men. But is this really true? Psychologist Campbell Leaper decided to find out.

He reviewed all of the evidence from studies around the globe, and came to a surprising conclusion. Although there were certain situations where women were likely to talk more – when with children – men were actually the chattiest. Only by a small amount though, on average both sexes used the same number of words per day.

The fact that this study disproved previous scientific conclusions should tell us one thing: the jury is still out on many of our old stereotypes!

Related links

• Are men worth more than women?

Your shout!

What other gender stereotypes would you like to put to the test? Share your thoughts by posting a comment using the link below.