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Contents
- Abstract
- Cultural Variability in the Size of Sex Differences in Personality
- Explaining Cultural Variability in the Size of Sex Differences in Personality
- 1. Social Role Explanations
- 2. Evolutionary Explanations
- 3. Artifact Explanations
- Basic Aims of the Current Study
- Method
- Personality Traits
- Cultural Values Indicators
- Inglehart's value dimensions
- Interpersonal trust and life satisfaction
- Materialist and postmaterialist values
- Hofstede's value dimensions
- Gender Equality Indicators
- Sex ratio
- Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)
- Gender-Related Development Index (GDI)
- Sex ratios
- Female professional and technical workers
- Sex differences in life expectancy
- Sex differences in blood pressure
- Socioeconomic Indicators
- HDI
- Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (in US dollars)
- School enrollment
- Life expectancy at birth
- Gini index
- Method Quality Indicators
- Cronbach's alpha
- Interitem response variance
- Acquiescence bias
- Negative item bias
- Results
- The Magnitude of Sex Differences in Personality Across Cultures
- Convergence of Personality Trait Sex Differences in the ISDP With Other Studies
- Psychological Origins of Sex Differences in Personality Traits
- Discussion
- Sex Roles Do Not Explain Why Sex Differences in Personality Traits Vary Across Cultures
- Method Artifacts Do Not Explain Why Sex Differences in Personality Traits Vary Across Cultures
- Evolutionary Theories May Explain Why Sex Differences in Personality Traits Vary Across Cultures
- Magnitude of Sex Differences in Personality Traits May Demonstrate Gene–Environment Interaction
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Abstract
Previous research suggested that sex differences in personality traits are larger in prosperous, healthy, and egalitarian cultures in which women have more opportunities equal with those of men. In this article, the authors report cross-cultural findings in which this unintuitive result was replicated across samples from 55 nations (N = 17,637). On responses to the Big Five Inventory, women reported higher levels of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness than did men across most nations. These findings converge with previous studies in which different Big Five measures and more limited samples of nations were used. Overall, higher levels of human development—including long and healthy life, equal access to knowledge and education, and economic wealth—were the main nation-level predictors of larger sex differences in personality. Changes in men's personality traits appeared to be the primary cause of sex difference variation across cultures. It is proposed that heightened levels of sexual dimorphism...





