Are Men and Women Different? On Universal Sex Differences
Nature? Nurture? Where do you think the line should be drawn?
By Eric Maisel
[In this 12-part series, we’ll look at several seminal studies addressing the question “Are men and women different?” Please enjoy these diverse and sometimes conflicting points of view. P.S. I would like to thank AI for its help in preparing this series. And please take a look at my forthcoming book, Choose Your Life Purposes. Pre-ordering is available!]
in 2003, David Schmitt and his colleagues presented their findings in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in an article entitled “Universal sex differences in the desire for sexual variety: Tests from 52 nations, 6 continents, and 13 islands.” This large cross-cultural study found consistent sex differences in the desire for sexual variety, with men generally desiring more partners than women.
Their abstract reads in part:
Evolutionary psychologists have hypothesized that men and women possess both long-term and short-term mating strategies, with men’s short-term strategy differentially rooted in the desire for sexual variety. In this article, findings from a cross-cultural survey of 16,288 people across 10 major world regions (including North America, South…
