Lecture 7

Girls and women sometimes form gangs too, but they are much different than male gangs.

"Accounts of the few all-girl gangs that exist demonstrate that they are far less sociable and efficient than male gangs. Female gang members do not display the same camaraderie as male gang members. Anne Campbell interviewed some of their members and concluded, 'Almost every account stresses that membership of girls' gangs compared with boys' shows a higher turnover, a shorter life span, a failure of effective leadership and organization, and pervasively a sense of purposelessness (Campbell, 1984, p.32). Girls and women fail to generate good gang behavior."

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Discriminate against other groups (McDonald et al., 2012, p672)

"Across cultures, time and samples, self-report survey research has consistently demonstrated that, on average, men display more xenophobic and ethnocentric attitudes than do women [27-34]. Men also display a tendency to use danger-relevant stereotypes about outgroup members when faced with ambiguously threatening situations, such as when primed by ambient darkness [35]. Men are also more likely than women to dehumanize outgroup members, such as by describing them using animal-typical words [2], which may help ease the psychological discomfort that might otherwise be associated with harming others during violent intergroup conflict. By contrast, women tend to equalize punishment across the ingroup and outgroup and do not show evidence of discrimination based on gender [26]."

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Monitor your capabilities and other males' too

"Boys made more refined judgments than girls did. Many of the boys' judgments reflected candid appraisals of other boys' expertise and willingness to work hard. Boys described the other boys in their class in terms of their academic ability, their athletic ability, and their specific interests and hobbies. They mentioned how hard the other boys worked, how willing they were to abide by or break rules of authority figures, how much fun they made of others, how goofy they were...Girls rarely did so. The only two characteristics used more often by girls than boys were whether the classmate was nice and whether she reciprocated nice actions." Boys and girls used the same number of words to describe their classmates.

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Situate yourself in all-male peer groups

"In all known societies, boys prefer to remain with boys of the same age and away from others, especially adult caregivers. In traditional societies, they herd animals, hunt small game, or simply play together in fields, forests or playgrounds, while girls are typically found helping their mothers with child minding and household responsibilities." (Benenson, 2014, p63) Boys and men are more likely than girls and women to view same-age peers as more useful than their parents. Benenson et al (2008) conducted 2 studies on this topic. In Study 1, 194 children, adolescents, and adults from Belgium predicted whether parents or same-sex peers would provide more benefits to a typical individual of their same age and sex. Results showed that at all age levels, compared with females, males predicted that same-sex peers would provide more benefits relative to parents. -Benenson et al (2008) conducted 2 studies on this topic. In Study 2, 50 young adults from Montreal, Canada were asked to what extent same-sex peers and parents satisfied physical needs, fulfilled socioemotional needs, and helped with acquiring societal skills over the past year. Males more than females reported that same-sex peers relative to parents satisfied socioemotional needs and helped with the acquisition of societal skills.

What specific adaptive problems could aggression (or threat of aggression) have evolved to solve?

- Coopt resources of others - Inflicts costs on intrasexual rivals - Defend against attack (cultivate reputation for toughness) - Negotiate status and power hierarchies - Deter LT mates from sexual infidelity

Sex Differences in Sports Across Cultures

-Deaner & Smith (2012) found large sex differences in the 60 cultures of the HRAF probability sample. Female sports occur in some traditional societies but there were always more male sports. However, the sex difference in sports was larger in patriarchal cultures, where women have much less power.

Strategy 4: Use social exclusion Exclusion often involves gossiping

-Gottman (1986) recorded spontaneous conversations between either two familiar men or two familiar women. Female and male pairs talked for the same amount of time, but female pairs made more than twice as many negative comments about a third person. Also, when one female made a negative comment, her partner often egged her on. This didn't happen among the men. -Girls and women know how hard it is to join a new female group. Several studies show that they dislike moving more than men do. This is true even when they are not leaving their families behind, and even when they are advancing their own careers.

A Stable Sex Difference in Competitiveness in Distance Running

-Most studies examining variation in sex differences across countries and time periods are based on self-reports (e.g., personality, sexuality, mate preferences, vocational interests). Self-reports can be problematic for several reasons, including that the same item might be interpreted differently (e.g., become socially undesirable) in different time periods and because response variability might reflect individuals' choice of comparison group (e.g., own sex vs. both sexes) when responding to rating scales (Wood and Eagly 2012). -Deaner (2006, 2013) suggested a complementary approach, assessing behavioral preferences in areas which are relatively unconstrained. This might involve preferences in books, magazines, films, television, videogames, social networking, hobbies, and voluntary physical activity. In most of these things, men and women show distinct preferences. Are these preferences changing? -Men in all cultures frequently put great effort, often for years, into developing skills or products that "show off" or display a man's quality relative to his competitors. This is true in hunter-gatherer societies where men's food acquisition strategies seem poor in terms of acquiring resources, yet they are effective in showing off and gaining status.

Strategy 3: Enforce equality among female peers Shun women who take on high-status roles

-Studies of leadership find that male and female leaders are similar in most respects, with one huge exception. In more than 90% of studies But this still isn't good enough for female subordinates, who still are unhappy to have a female boss. Studies show that both men and women prefer to have a male boss, and women have an even stronger preference for this. The only coworkers acceptable to most women are those that are "dead even" in status and not trying to compete. In interviewing many business women, Laura Tracy (1991) found most women claimed they never competed against other women but believed that many women competed against them.

Evidence from Contemporary Societies

1) Cultural displays are mainly performed by young men (e.g., 20-40 years). True in athletics but also in the arts (Miller, 1999, 2000) and science (Kanazawa, 2003). 2) Marriage depresses male cultural achievement, consistent with the idea that effort channeled into cultural displays reflects mating effort (tennis: Farrelly & Nettle, 2007; science: Kanazawa, 2000). 3) Men's creative activity in the visual arts and poetry is positively correlated with mating success (Nettle & Clegg, 2006), and athletic achievement is linked to both enhanced status (Chase & Dummer, 1992; Földesi, 2004, Sohi & Yusuff, 1987) and mating opportunities (e.g., Faurie et al., 2004; Llaurens et al., 2009). 4) Men employ cultural displays in situations consistent with the hypothesis: they are more creative in their writing after being romantically primed (Griskevicius et al., 2006), attempt more challenging skateboarding tricks in the presence of an attractive female (Ronay & von Hippel, 2010), and use riskier chess strategies when playing against an attractive female (Dreber et al., 2010).

Women's Social Behavior - 5 Strategies

1. Avoid direct or interference competition. 2. Disguise competition. 3. Enforce equality among female peers. 4. Use social exclusion. 5. Compete directly only if high-ranked in the community or if there are no other options.

Aggression is beneficial if it solves problems, but it has costs

1. Risk of injury or death 2. Reputation consequences 3. Ability of victim (and kin and allies) to retaliate \

Women's Social Behavior - 5 Principles

1. Stay alive to care for your children. Children need food, safety, shelter, resources, and social and emotional support. Mom is irreplaceable. 2. Get help from your children's genetic relatives. Unlike many animals, non-maternal help is crucial in humans, but it can come from many different people. Female kin (mother, daughters, sisters) Fathers (husband, boyfriend) and fathers' kin 3. Compete with other non-kin females. Food, resources, and good helpers (e.g., productive, high-status husbands) are limited. Children who grow up in worse circumstances suffer. Social status matters a great deal for obtaining these resources. Compete against other non-female kin for status, but avoid retaliation at all costs. Compete to attract a productive, high status husband; they provide resources and support for children and raise your status. 4. Cooperating with many non-kin females is unimportant. For males, warfare, cooperative hunting, and other group pursuits increase the RS of individual men and the whole group. For men, unrelated men are both competitors and allies. Being able to work in large groups, with differentiated roles and status is vital. For women, unrelated women are usually only competitors. Cooperate with unrelated women to enforce rules regulating competition and status-seeking 5. Develop a few one-on-one friendships with non-kin females. Friends can provide social and emotional support, assistance with childcare, and protection from other females. Friends can provide a break from genetic relatives, and they share a greater interest in competing against same-age competitors by enforcing rules regulating competition. But be wary because your friend may try to compete with you for status, men, or resources. Know your friend well. Make sure the relationship is reciprocal. End the friendship if the friend shows any sign of trying to compete with you.

Study 2: Conclusion

3X as many men as women choose to participate in a competitive context. This difference decreased slightly from 1988 to late 1990s. It has been stable since. A 40 year old woman in 2012 began high school in 1986. A 40 year old woman in 1998 began high school in 1972. Their experiences were much different but this apparently doesn't affect their competitiveness. Thus, the sex difference in sports competitiveness in the U.S. is stable

Stereotypes: How Widespread?

Moreover, stereotypes about men and women have remained fairly stable and unchanged in the U.S. from 1983 to 2016, despite women becoming more involved in work, higher education, politics, sports and other areas (Haines et al., 2016).

pt.2 Men More Active in War-like Activities

Accounts and memoirs of male bonding in warfare and similar settings can be very powerful. Men form deep emotional attachments with their comrades, usually the strongest attachments (love) they form in their lives. They often describe feeling, and act as if, their squad or small group's success is more important than their personal survival. Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence It is difficult to study these things in laboratory situations.

Men More Active in War-like Activities

Across all cultures, almost any act of intergroup aggression and violence is much more likely to be perpetrated by coalitions of men than women. Examples are terrorism, street-gangs and hooligan violence (van Vugt, 2009). Buford was not the kind of person you would think of as a thug. He was the editor of Granta, a respected British literary magazine. He was, on the evidence of this book, a fine writer, with good self-insight and honesty. If someone like him could get caught up in mob violence, even temporarily, then nobody is immune. His book was mostly reporting and not theorizing, but he had some suggested thoughts. One was the high unemployment in Britain at the time. Men whose identity was based on being "working-class" were without actual work. Another was nostalgia for World War Two. Buford at times thought that the hooligans found mob violence, particularly when directed against foreigners at World Cup tournaments, as a substitute and next best thing to an actual war.

Baumeister & Sommer's (1997) "Two Spheres of Belongingness" Theory

Aggression. Aggression is way of affecting the behavior of others and their relationships. Men's aggression is higher than women's but this is mainly or only due to men's greater aggression towards "strangers." And many of the "strangers" in lab studies are perceived as part of a larger social group. Helpfulness. Within families and small groups, women are more helpful in caregiving and chores. In lab studies (i.e. strangers), men show greater helpfulness than women (d = 0.33 in meta-analysis of Eagly &Crowley, 1986), especially when there is an audience. Distinctiveness or uniqueness. Men show much greater motivation to be unique in their behavior, and this can be seen as a way to fit into a larger group, where having a unique skill can make one more valuable. In conformity studies, men are less conforming, but only if there is an audience around suggesting that nonconformity is about showing one's uniqueness.

Growing yams to show off

Among the Abelam, women grow yams to eat. But men grow yams to show-off and compete for status. Men's yam growing involves different yams, different techniques, separate gardens, and much more labor per mass of yams produced. The men's yams aren't even good to eat. It requires horticultural expertise, strength, and diligence, and men gain status according to their yam-growing (Hawkes & Bird, 2002).

Social Role Theory: General Principles

An evolutionary approach holds that that genetic predispositions interact with social and environmental factors to produce human behavior, including sex differences. It is completely compatible with the idea that as women gain power in a society, some aspects of their behavior will become more similar to men's. Other social and environmental factors will matter too. Social role theory is an unusual variant of evolutionary theory, and it has become extremely popular. Social role theory (Eagly & Wood, 1999; Wood & Eagly, 2012) holds that all sex differences can be attributed to the different social roles that men and women play in their particular society. In societies, where women achieve economic, educational, and political equality, they are expected to become more competent (e.g., competitive, independent) and less warm (e.g., communicative, sensitive, helpful, gentle, and liking children), and the opposite should be true in men. Where there is true equality, there will be no sex differences in behavior.

Strategy 2: Disguise competition We're all equal here!

Anson Dorrance has won 21 NCAA titles as coach of the UNC women's soccer team. Before coaching the UNC women, he coached the men. Dorrance noted that telling a player, in front of her teammates, that "she had the talent to be the best goal scorer in the country" made her and her teammates very uncomfortable. Not true for the men. We will be conducting a study of this issue. We're currently developing the scale to assess "acceptance of differential ability on sports teams." Possible items include: It's a bad idea for a coach to openly say who they think the best players are. If I deserved it, I would like to be recognized as the best player on my team. I'd hate for anyone to think I wasn't good enough to play regularly. I would be happy if the coach told everyone on the team that I was our best player. Players shouldn't quit a team just because they aren't as good as most of their teammates. It would be great if everyone on campus thought I was our team's star player.

Why do men hunt?

Anthropologists had long assumed that men were motivated to hunt so that they could provision their wives and children. But hunting, especially for large animals, is like winning a slot machine that pays out with disintegrating quarters. Most days you go home hungry and, even when you win, the payoff spoils before you can eat most of it. Or others in the tribe help themselves and there's nothing the hunter can do about it (i.e. tolerated theft). If one man wanted to feed his family, it would seem smarter to hunt small game or to just gather like the women.

Strategy 3: Enforce equality among female peers Downplay personal success

Benenson and Shinazi (2004) asked Canadian high school students how they would feel about performing better than their same-sex friends in four domains (romance, academics, athletics, and close friends). Unlike boys, girls thought their friends would think poorly of them if they became more successful than they were. They also said that any greater achievement by one friend might destroy the friendship.

Naturalistic Competition in Adults

Cashdan (1998) asked 70 female and 28 male undergrads living in a dorm in the UK to keep diaries noting all competitive events (or perceptions of competition) in their lives for several weeks. Overall: Men reported having slightly more same-sex competitive events. Issues: Men reported more competition about sports, whereas women described more competition about looking attractive, gaining the attention of the opposite sex, and succeeding at work. Tactics: Men were more likely to use physical aggression, although this was a fairly infrequent tactic for both men and women. There were no sex differences in other tactics.

Women more social?

Baumeister & Sommer (1997; Baumeister, 2010) argued against the view that women are just more social and instead say that men and women are differently social. They claim that women focus on and invest in a small number of close (e.g., dyads) relationships, whereas men orient toward and invest in a larger sphere of social relationships (e.g., tribe).

Strategy 2: Disguise competition Pay attention to non-verbal cues

Being able to quickly read non-verbal behavior would help identify plotting female competitors and it would also be helpful in avoiding dangerous men. In a common paradigm, people are asked to watch different kinds of film scenes, e.g., terrible auto accident, death of a dog, aggression from a bully. Study subjects are then asked to judge the emotions of people watching the scenes. In some experiments, they can see all of the film-watchers non-verbal behavior; in other experiments, they can only see facial expressions or only the audience members intonations (but not words) when describing scenes. These kinds of experiment have been conducted in many countries and, almost always, women are better than men in discerning nonverbal emotional meaning (Benenson, 2014, p 149). Women are more likely to make eye contact during social interactions (Benenson, 2014, p 147).

Strategy 4: Use social exclusion This starts early

Benenson et al (2008) studied trios of same-sex 4 year-olds in a classroom. They gave them a special puppet toy (sometimes more than one). The researchers left the room but kept the video rolling. The boys chased whichever boy had the puppet and tried to grab it. They screamed about fairness and taking turns. The puppet owner raced round and round in circles. The girls would exclude whichever girl had the puppet, usually hiding together. Once a girl had a puppet, she was often permanently excluded from being friends with the other girls, even if she tried to give them the puppet -Benenson et al (2008) created a naturalistic situation where older children could exclude one another. -Groups of 5 same-sex children (about 10 yrs old) were asked to produce a play. They were competing against other groups, and the best play would receive a large cash prize, about $35 per child. -None of the boys' skits involved social exclusion. They were based on recreating popular TV shows or soccer matches. One involved a drama with a corrupt businessman. -But 6 of 7 of the girls' skits involved social exclusion of a target girl. "In the most egregious case a truly overweight girl with stringy hair played the part of a new girl who had just moved from France to the other girls' class. Three of the girls "classmates" took turns pushing and shouting insults at her. At the pinnacle of the play, these 'three classmates' circled her for a full minute screaming synchronously in racous voices "Loser! Loser! Loser!"

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Be forgiving of other males

Benenson et al (2009) presented three studies indicating men are more tolerant than women of same-sex peers. See Assignment #7. Benenson et al (2014) asked 40 young men and 40 young women individually to imagine they had just argued with and been punched in the nose by their close same sex friend. Everyone reported being enraged. Their heart rates surged. Then subjects were asked to pretend that the same-sex experimenter who was outside the door was actually their friend who had punched them in the nose. They confronted the experimenter. Sure enough, despite the cursing and occasionally even thwarted attempts to punch the experimenter back, the young men afterward stated they would be more likely than young women to forgive their friend (d = 1.1).

Direct Competition: "Hard" Evidence

Body size (men have 40% greater fat free mass than women, similar to mountain gorilla) Upper body strength (~90%, d = 3.0) Lower body strength (~65%) Men's skeletons are more robust generally. _____________________________________ Weapons are made and utilized exclusively or primarily by men in every culture. Male secondary sexual characteristics (low voice, jaw, brow, beard) reveal testosterone and signal dominance. (no sense for hunting.) Paleoarcheological evidence indicates male-male fighting throughout our history.

Strategy 5: Compete directly But only if high-ranked or there are no other options pt.2

Burbank (1987): Female aggression in cross-cultural perspective "This paper presents findings from a preliminary cross-cultural survey of adult human female aggression. Cases of female-initiated aggression, ranging from verbal abuse to murder, are found in all regions of the world. -Female aggression is largely directed against other females and generally involves little injury. Co-wives and other rivals in sex and marriage are the most common victims. Husbands are the most common male targets. Female aggression is often a means of competing for men or subsistence products, but it may also be a means of defense."

Aggression in Australian Aboriginal Community

Burbank (1992) studied a community of about 600 Australian aborigines and noted every case of aggression she witnessed and asked informants to describe all cases of aggression. She coded 793 episodes of aggression. -Aggression involving dangerous weapons (knives, spears, guns) was perpetrated by men in 91 of 93 cases. Men also threatened physical aggression about twice as often as women did. -Women used sticks about 3x more than men, but sticks were less dangerous. -Women committed almost twice as much verbal aggression as men.

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Be comfortable being the boss

Buss (1981) developed a list of 100 dominant acts; some were rated as egoistic and other prosocial. Men and women were asked how socially desirable it was to perform each of these acts. Prosocial dominant acts (women endorsed more) Taking charge of things at a committee meeting Taking a stand on an important issue without waiting to find what others thought I took the lead in organizing a project I introduced a speaker at the meeting. Egoistic dominant acts (men endorsed more) Complaining about having to do a favor for someone Blaming others when things went wrong I managed to get my own way I demanded that someone else run the errand

Strategy 4: Use social exclusion Exclusion often involves indirect tactics.

But 6 of 7 of the girls' skits involved social exclusion of a target girl. "In the most egregious case a truly overweight girl with stringy hair played the part of a new girl who had just moved from France to the other girls' class. Three of the girls "classmates" took turns pushing and shouting insults at her. At the pinnacle of the play, these 'three classmates' circled her for a full minute screaming synchronously in racous voices "Loser! Loser! Loser!" The above is an example of exclusion with direct verbal aggression, but exclusion often involves indirect tactics. If the target is present, the attackers may roll their eyes without the target realizing it. More often the aggression occurs verbally, behind the targets back, or via secret messages ("burn book") or anonymous internet posts. Excluding someone with indirect tactics allows the perpetrators to deny they have done anything wrong.

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Take risks

Byrnes et al (1999) conducted a meta-analysis of risking taking, involving 150 studies and 322 effects. The overall difference was modest, d = 0.13. The difference was larger for observed behavior (d=.19) than self-reported behavior (d=.12). Other indicators of risk taking behaviors are much larger. Men are twice as likely as women to have a car accident and three times as likely to have two car accidents. Men are twice as likely to die crossing the street. Men are three times as likely to be hit by lightning. Men are three times as likely to slow by 30% when running a marathon. Men are more likely to participate in dangerous recreational activities and to make bad decisions. Base-jumping fatalities are at least 90% male

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Stay Cool

Experiencing and revealing emotions might make you vulnerable to attack or compromise your decision making. This might be especially true in coordinated group operations. Men experience fewer strong emotions. Anger is unusual. Men and women experience anger with about equal frequency and intensity. Women tend to mask it more (Benenson, 2014, p.74). Buck et al (1974) showed that when people are asked to read the emotions of men and women who are viewing different kinds of pictures (sexual, scenic, pleasant people, unpleasant, and unusual), it can often be done at above chance levels by untrained observers. However, for both men and women, men's expressions are more difficult to read. In Buck et al (1974), the expressions of 10 of 16 females but only 4 of 10 males could be classified at above chance levels.

Why do men, especially, young, unemployed, unmarried ones, show such high rates of same sex violence?

Criminologists have long noted that most male on male violence appears to be completely trivial and non-rational, often occurring in public places (e.g. bars) late in the evening among men with little material conflict. Although such violence seems irrational, it makes sense for the males because it concerns status, and status is important (or at least human males are predisposed to think so.)

Social Role Theory: Cross-country Data

Eagly & Wood (1999) showed that the sex difference in preferring a spouse with good earning capacity decreases as social roles converge. However, Gangestad et al (2006) claim this is not a reliable effect. Social role theory predicts that women with money wouldn't care about marrying wealthy men. But the data indicates the opposite (see Buss p. 123). So social role theory resorts to saying that women only marry men from their own social stratum, so that's why they prefer wealthy men. But this "explanation" ignores the fact that men don't seem to care about this. -Social role theory predicts that sex differences in sexuality (and sociosexuality, SOI) will decrease as women's power increases. There is solid evidence supporting this prediction (Peterson & Hyde, 2010; Schmitt, 2005). Social role theory predicts that sex differences in all other aspects of behavior will show the same pattern. And they generally don't.

Strategy 4: Use social exclusion

Eliminate competitors if dangerous of if there is no cost of retaliation. Focus on a peer who stands out because she is trying to compete or else she is better looking, more talented, or wealthier. Or maybe she is so socially weak (i.e., no allies) that she can't possibly retaliate. Chimpanzees sometimes kill each other, and it's usually males killing males. But females have been observed teaming up and killing the babies of females who have recently immigrated into their territory. For the females living in the territory, a new female and her baby are just a drain on resources; there's no benefit to having them around.

Men More Interested in War-like Simulations

Paintball? Laser tag? Battle reenactments War films, novels, memoirs Males sure seem more interested, but maybe this reflects that males are more often portrayed in these situations.

Young unemployed men commit more same sex aggression

Daly & Wilson (1988) estimated that in Detroit in 1972, unemployed men were 4 times as likely to commit murder. Unmarried men were almost 2 times as likely to murder other men. Courtwright's (1996) historical analysis of violence in American frontier towns is consistent with this pattern. Young men's violence is amplified also by a low operational sex ratio (many men competing for few women) or the "geography of gender."

A Stable Sex Difference in Competitiveness in Distance Running cont.

Distance running performance, relative to gender-specific world records, is a good measure of motivation to train competitively (Deaner, Masters, Ogles, & LaCaille, 2011). Male running 50 miles/wk ~ 16:15 for 5K, 25% slower than male WR Female running 50 miles/wk ~ 18:25 for 5K, 25% slower than female WR More than 3 times as many males as females run relatively fast (Deaner 2006a, 2006b, 2011), indicating that about 3 times as many males are training competitively. Increased female participation hasn't changed this basic ratio of relatively fast runners (Deaner 2006a, 2011; Deaner & Mitchell, 2011).

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Be comfortable allowing men to lead in their areas of expertise

Distinctiveness or uniqueness. Men show much greater motivation to be unique in their behavior (not appearance), and this can be seen as a way to fit into a larger group, where having a unique skill can make one more valuable. In conformity studies, men are less conforming, but only if there is an audience around suggesting that nonconformity is about showing one's uniqueness.

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Take risks (sometimes for good reasons)

For example--excluding people whose parental or occupational roles involve rescuing--men were 91% of Carnegie Hero medalists (Becker & Eagly, 2004). Patterns might be different for when family members are considered. Patterns might be different for non-physical risks. Requirements for A Carnegie Medal A civilian who voluntarily risks his or her own life, knowingly, to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person is eligible for recognition by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

Strategy 2: Disguise competition Let's all be nice!

For girls and women, any peer who competes is "not nice." And niceness matters a lot. "Nice women don't try to outdo their female peers...one competitive sign and it's over....If a girl or woman successfully completes a task she tries to avoid retaliation by continuing to believe she doesn't compete. Researchers from different theoretical perspectives have reached the same conclusion: most women honestly believe they do not compete with one another." (Benenson, 2014, p176) "If a girl or woman has gotten hold of a choice toy, received a better school mark, obtained nicer clothes, accrued more friends, married a richer man, bought a bigger house, made more money, landed a more prestigious job or accomplished anything more than her female peers, she states flatly that it's not her own doing. She truly believes it's luck or divine intervention." (Benenson, 2014, p176) Girls and women not taking credit for their own success is a very clear, consistent finding. Boys and men tend towards the opposite. In one university department, several female professors engaged in a cooking competition. Each professor tried to outdo the others when she hosted an event for the department. More food, fancier food. But none of them would admit there was any kind of competition going on.

The "show off" Hypothesis

Hawkes (1991) suggested that men hunt so that they can show off. When a hunter occasionally makes a big kill, other women, besides the hunter's wife(s), will be impressed with his skill (which reveals his quality) and grateful for the meat he provides. They will therefore be more willing to give him favorable treatment, granting him political favor or mating opportunities. They key claim is that hunters are NOT maximizing their food capture rate, but trying to gain shareable bonanzas. Hawkes (1991, 2001, 2002) gathered data from the Ache (S. America) and Hadza (Africa) to support this hypothesis: 84% of meat acquired by Ache men does not go to their immediate families. Gathered foods are not shared nearly as much. Men seem to specifically prefer highly variable bonanza foods (e.g. honey bee nests) even when they aren't hunting. The immediate families of successful Hadza hunters don't eat more meat than unsuccessful hunters. And more successful hunters do usually enjoy greater social status and reproductive opportunities.

Pt. 3 Evolutionary Approach: Examples of variability

Height is another possible example of how ecological stress can diminish sex differences. Height is highly responsive to the environment. When nutrition and health care improve, children will be taller than their parents. Sex differences in height occur in all societies, but the difference can be quite small in cultures with poor nutrition (Nettle 2002). Gaulin and Boster (1992) noted in their review of sex differences in stature across 155 human societies, "substandard nutrition could cause individuals to fall short of their genetically set growth potential, and, importantly, males seem to be more sensitive to such developmental perturbations than females" (p. 474). Another example: Ecological stress also correlates with greater narcissism in both men and women, but more so in women. Thus, sex differences in narcissism narrow in countries with greater ecological stress (Schmitt, 2014). Typically occurring human sex differences can be suppressed through culture (e.g., culture making conditions far different than those that usually occurred during our evolutionary history). For example, in the eighteenth century, the religious sect called the Shakers abolished the practice of marriage, insisted upon complete sexual celibacy, and eradicated nearly all physical contact between men and women (Foster 1981). Thus, the expression of most, if not all, evolved sex differences in mating psychology was greatly suppressed in Shaker culture. Perhaps there were there unexpressed differences in mating psychology.

Evolutionary Approach: Examples of Variability

Human behavior is expected to be sensitive to social and environmental conditions, especially conditions that would have occurred during our evolutionary history. This sensitivity is itself a product of natural selection and it's called phenotypic plasticity. Here's an example (Schmitt, 2014): "Some species of grasshopper alter their color depending on local ecology. Grasshoppers in darker ecologies grow a dark body, whereas grasshoppers in green ecologies grow a green body (Burtt 1951). Any differences between green and dark grasshoppers are not genetic differences; they represent the same genome facultatively responding in a mediated way to ecological variation (Nettle 2009)."

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Be aggressive in war-like situations

In simulated war games against unknown opponents, men were significantly more likely to attack another country without provocation (Johnson et al., 2006) "Even though players were unaware of the identity or gender of their opponent, wars and unprovoked attacks were highest among male-male dyads, next most common among mixed dyads, and least common in female-female dyads" (p. 2516). Men also expressed higher positive illusions about winning these simulated intergroup conflicts, a belief that increased the probability that they would attack their opponent.

Social Role Theory: Cross-temporal Data

Investigators have examined personality changes within nations as sex roles have changed. Most studies have been done in the U.S. -Figure 2 of Deaner et al., 2014. Labor Force Participation indicates the percentage of civilian women aged 16 years or older in the U.S. paid labor force. Wage Gap indicates, for full-time U.S. workers, women's earnings as a percentage of men's. High School Sports Participants indicates the percentage of sports participants in U.S. high schools that are women. Olympic Participation indicates the percentage of participants in the Summer Olympic Games that are women -Investigators have examined personality changes within nations as sex roles have changed. Most studies have been done in the U.S. Twenge (1997, 2001) found that women's assertiveness and dominance increased in the U.S. during periods women take on masculine typical roles (e.g. industrial work during WWII) and that sex differences are now very small or non-existent. But these scales sometimes had odd, time-specific questions (e.g. "I am childlike"), making their interpretation somewhat difficult. -In addition, other studies in U.S. have found that sex differences in personality have been stable for many decades (Feingold, 1994; Lueptow et al., 2001).

Movies about male team sports involve individuals sacrificing, accepting lesser roles, and cooperating for the team, usually with the team achieving more than most believed they were capable of. But there are apparently no female team sports movies like this. They are about individuals' growth, the development of independence, and/or the establishment or reconciliation of relationships.

It's not that female athletes on team sports don't play as genuine teams. They do (and there are great documentaries of this). But nobody makes movies about it, apparently because it doesn't tap into an evolved desire (fantasy) for coalitional membership and success.

SRT: Cross-country Data Pt.2

Lippa (2010) has attempted to test social role and evolutionary theory by assessing variation in responses to online surveys sponsored by the BBC. It was conducted in 2005 and more than 255,000 people from 53 nations responded. The findings generally contradicted social role theory because many of the sex differences were universal or unrelated to gender equality measures.. For example, women were universally more agreeable, and the greater the gender equality in the society, the greater the sex difference was (r = -0.47). Similar findings were obtained for extraversion and neuroticism. Similar personality findings were reported by Costa et al. (2001) and Schmitt et al. (2008).

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Compete in many ways.

Male competition for status often involves physical competition and aggression (or the threat of aggression). However, men can compete for status in many other ways, including through sports, games, science, painting, poetry, storytelling, music, comedy, becoming wealthy, having a great comic book collection and so on. The avenue that men choose to compete depends on what is valued in their society and their own resources and talents. According to Hawkes (1991), male hunting in traditional societies is not primarily about getting food for one's own family.

Stereotypes: Warmth and Competence

Many psychological traits can be fit into the broad terms of warmth and competence. -Women are generally stereotyped as high in Warmth and moderately high in Competence. -Men are generally stereotyped as very high in Competence and moderate in Warmth.

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Don't be afraid

Many studies have examined this topic, and most find that women experience higher levels of fear than men (McLean & Anderson, 2009). For example, although women are less frequently victimized by violent crime, they are more fearful of it. When two snipers were terrorizing the Washington, D.C., area in 2002, women reported being substantially more likely than men to modify their behaviors, even though objectively there was a very low risk of harm and men made up more than two-thirds of the sniping victims (Zivotofsky & Koslowsky, 2005). A study of male and female soldiers serving in support positions during the Gulf War, none of whom had seen combat, found that women reported experiencing significantly more psychological stress than men, especially stress related to anticipation of combat (Rosen et al., 1999). Israeli girls suffer more from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than boys after terror attacks, a difference that is largely a result of their greater fear levels (Laufer & Solomon, 2009).

Evolutionary Approach: General Principles

Men and women are expected to differ wherever they have recurrently faced different adaptive problems throughout human evolutionary history. This evolutionary framework implies that some sex differences will be universal or nearly universal. It also implies that some sex differences will have a partly genetic basis. SRY gene contributes to occurrence of organizational (prenatal) and activational (e.g., puberty) hormones. (See Lectures 2 & 6) There may be additional genes contributing besides SRY. This evolutionary framework doesn't claim that there won't be overlap in traits or that all sex differences will be present at birth. Examples: Language, upright walking. This framework does acknowledge that social and environmental conditions will contribute to sex differences. Example: People (e.g., parents) are expected to socialize children in ways that makes sense for their society. (See Lecture 6 )

A Stable Sex Difference in Competitiveness in Distance Running pt.3

Men participate more in competitive events. Few participants in road races actually run fast, and there is no sex difference in participation. But most masters runners do run fast at track meets (e.g., within 150% of the gender-specific, age-specific world record). And men are 3X as likely to participate at masters track meets (Deaner, Addona, & Mead, 2014). Men are more likely to use risky pacing strategies. 3X as likely to dramatically slow in the second half of a marathon

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Be comfortable with differences in status

Men report greater Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) (Sidanius et al., 2000). This sex difference has been shown in many studies, in many countries (Lee et al., 2011). The SDO scale measures the extent to which the subject believes it is acceptable for one group to dominate another one. Here are a few sample items: To get ahead in life, it is sometimes necessary to step on others. Rich people have their money because they are simply better people. Some groups are simply not the equals of others. Are men more accepting of status differences within their groups (rather than between groups)? It seems likely, but this apparently has not been tested yet.

Pt.2 Distance running

Men still dominate most "show-off" domains, but we can't be confident that this reflects an evolved predisposition rather than an artifact of patriarchy (e.g., girls receive less encouragement, resources, or their displays are judged unfairly). Distance running is an ideal domain for addressing the evolved predispositions hypothesis because it (1) indicates enduring competitiveness, (2) allows objective comparisons, and (3) is accessible, acceptable, and popular for both men and women, especially in the U.S. Thus, if substantially more male runners are training hard (rather than just participating), it would constitute strong support for the evolved predispositions hypothesis. Deaner's distance running studies are complicated, however, because (1) they focus on performance as a correlate of training, rather than training itself and (2) males have physiological advantages, meaning they will run about 11% faster than women even when training and talent is the same.

Absolute Comparisons Not Reasonable Because Males Have:

More muscle Less body fat More red blood cells More hemoglobin in blood cells

Strategy 1: Avoid direct competition

On surveys, men report greater enjoyment of competition in general (Houston, Harris, Moore, Brummett, & Kametani, 2005; Piko, Skulteti, Luszczynska, & Gibbons, 2010), greater desire to win in interpersonal situations (Gill, 1988; Spence & Helmreich, 1983), and greater desire to strive for success relative to others in sports (Findlay & Bowker, 2009; Gill, 1988; Merten, 2008). In their free time, boys and men play video games more often than girls and women, particularly competitive games, and males are more likely to report that competition motivates them to play (Hartmann & Klimmt, 2006; Lucas & Sherry, 2004). In laboratory games, men are more likely than women to choose competitive rather than non-competitive compensation schemes. Boys and men participate in sports substantially more often than girls and women, although there is no consistent difference for non-competitive physical activity or exercise. Males exhibit more aggression, especially serious physical aggression. Male bodies are built for inflicting and receiving physical aggression.

Study 1: Conclusion

Participating in a road race is not a good indicator competitiveness. But participating in a track meet is. Nearly 2/3 of people are running fast. Fast performances correspond with greater training and self-reported competitiveness (Masters et al. 1993; Ogles et al. 1995; Ogles and Masters 2000, 2003). Men are about 3X as likely to participate in track meets. This reflects a sex difference in competitiveness.

Strategy 5: Compete directly But only if high-ranked or there are no other options

Physically assaulting or verbally insulting another person invites retaliation. Girls and women usually use it as a last resort, for emergencies. Sometimes a high-status woman targets a low-status one because she can get away with it. But this often makes the woman feel bad - it challenges her self-conception of being nice and having self-control. Also, other women usually steer clear of women who use direct tactics - they are out of control and dangerous and mean. Although girls and women seem predisposed not to use direct aggression as much as males, it is still part of their repertoire. -Girls and women will directly aggress (verbally or physically) against their relatives (esp. children) because relatives cannot end the relationship. 75% of moms in U.S. admit to hitting their children. Children need their moms. Female relatives need each other in the long-term. -For poor women, direct aggression is more frequently a useful tactic against non-family. If they aren't willing to fight, someone will steal their material goods, seduce their romantic partners, or diminish their status.

Strategy 3: Enforce equality among female peers Cautiously make friends with those of same status

Require mutually high emotional investment. Sharing emotional vulnerabilities facilitates "mutually assured destruction if the friendship disintegrates." Women's friendships are primarily based on emotional intimacy, whereas men's friendships are based on shared activities. This is the largest and most consistent difference between men's and women's friendships, and it has been found in many countries. "A man does not care particularly where another man comes from, what his name is, or what his intentions are, as long as he has the skills that are required for the task at hand." (Benenson, 2014, p 150) Women's friendships are more intense and more fragile than men's.

Study 1: Does Participation at Masters Track Meets Indicate Competitiveness?

Road races, from 5K to the marathon, have become highly popular in the U.S. There are over 10 million road race finishers per year. Women comprised 25% of finishers in the late 1980s but comprised 55% in 2011. The running boom is recreational, not competitive. Many consider finishing a marathon to be a significant life achievement. Most races focus on supporting charities or earning profits but few optimize racing conditions. Median marathon times have slowed by more than 15% since the early 1980s. Few road racers report being strongly motivated by competition.

pt.2 Evolutionary Approach: Examples of Variability

Schmitt et al. (2003) found that men are generally higher in dismissing attachment styles. "I am comfortable without close emotional relationships" "It is very important to me to feel independent and self-sufficient" "I prefer not to depend on others or have others depend on me." This sex difference in dismissing attachment is common across cultures, but there are some exceptions (Del Giudice, 2011). It apparently disappears in cultures with high ecological stress (such as having high pathogen levels), in part, due to women's psychology apparently being specially-designed to be more sensitive to stressful ecological contexts (Schmitt, 2014).

Baumeister & Sommer's (1997) "Two Spheres of Belongingness" Theory Pt.2

Self-representation. Women describe themselves in relation to their families and intimate circles. Men describe themselves relative to their larger social group, especially their place in the group. Male boastfulness can be seen as a way to situate oneself effectively in a larger group. (Boastfulness doesn't work well in smaller groups where everyone knows you already.) Social networks. Girls and women have smaller social networks and more intimate, intense relationships. But males are more comfortable and function better in larger groups. A pair of boys is generally more welcoming to a third child than is a pair of girls. Emotional expression. Women may be more prone to show emotion but this may be limited to close relationships. Showing emotions in larger groups may be disadvantageous and this may be why men have been selected to show less emotion. Men do show more anger, but anger can be very useful in situating oneself in larger groups. Anger is less helpful for women.

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Take risks (sometimes for dumb reasons)

Sex differences in risk seeking behaviour, emergency hospital admissions, and mortality are well documented. However, little is known about sex differences in idiotic risk taking behaviour. This paper reviews the data on winners of the Darwin Award over a 20 year period (1995-2014). Winners of the Darwin Award must eliminate themselves from the gene pool in such an idiotic manner that their action ensures one less idiot will survive. This paper reports a marked sex difference in Darwin Award winners: males are significantly more likely to receive the award than females (P<0.0001). We discuss some of the reasons for this difference.

Take Home Points (Causality)

Sex differences in social behavior vary across societies and time periods. Evolutionary theory can serve as an overarching framework for other theories. Ecological stress - dismissing attachment Social role theory - mating preferences, SOI, assertiveness It's a mistake to think that social role theory (or any other) can provide a complete account of all variation in sex differences. Assessing sex differences in behavior across time and societies is difficult. One reason is that an individual's behavior and psychology (e.g., personality, preferences, motivation) is constrained by their society. Assessing behavioral preferences in unconstrained areas (e.g., leisure activities) is a promising approach.

Strategy 2: Disguise competition Smile no matter what!

Smiling signals cooperativeness, not antagonism, and women smile more than men, especially if there is any possibility of a conflict. LaFrance (1997) asked undergrads in Boston to imagine reading a story in which the following occurred: First, a person approached and recounted a recent accomplishment: "I'm so happy! After years of trying, I was finally able to compete the Boston Marathon!" Second, students were asked to imagine that they said, "Congratulations." Half of the students were then told to imagine that they smiled when congratulating the runner. The other half were told to imagine that they did not smile and maintained a neutral expression. Finally, students were asked how they felt. Everyone reported feeling more uncomfortable when they did not smile.

SRT: General principles

Social role theory is evolutionary in the sense that it claims that men have evolved to be larger and stronger, whereas women have evolved to be mothers, and these two facts about physical sex differences fully explain why most societies have a division of labor and traditional sex roles. However, the theory claims that the repeated existence of such roles over evolutionary time has not produced an "evolved men's" and "evolved women's" psychology. (As far as sex differences go, evolution stopped at the neck.) Instead, the social roles fully produce the competence and warmth traits in each generation. Many evolutionarily-oriented scholars dispute that social role theory is an evolutionary theory because it rejects the possibility that organizational hormonal effects contribute to sex differences. It also denies that anything besides differences in social roles can contribute to sex differences.

Social Role Theory: Key Points

Social role theory says evolution stops at the neck, at least as far as sex differences go. But it seems implausible to think that paternity uncertainty, gestation, and lactation (and warfare?) have no consequences for our psychology. Why would evolution produce morphological and psychological adaptations related to these issues in all known animal species but not in humans? Why would the same evolutionary principles not apply? The theory can't explain the early emergence (e.g., newborns) of sex differences in behavior or the role of hormones in development. The theory can't explain many other biological facts: Men prioritize mate attractiveness more than women in every culture. Why attractiveness should be related to mate quality or why the phenomenon of attractiveness should even exist. The theory doesn't seem to explain much variability across countries. The theory does better in explaining variation across time within the same country. The theory is important in explaining the development of sex differences.

Take Home Points (from Deaner et al., 2014)

Sports data supports evolutionary theory. Males and females have differing innate predispositions for sports interest. Sports data contradicts social role theory. U.S. federal policy (e.g., Title IX implementation) assumes social role theory is true. An important question is whether the findings in distance running will occur in other sports (e.g., swimming) or domains.

Stereotypes: Accurate?

Swim (1994) examined stereotype accuracy about sex differences across multiple domains, including cognitive abilities and social behaviors. The "real sex difference" data was taken from published meta-analyses conducted by other researchers. The "stereotyped sex difference" came from data that Swim collected. In general, there was a fairly strong correspondence (r = 0.76) between stereotypes and actual differences. As reviewed in Bosson (p. 173-174) more recent studies have generally found the same thing Swim (1994) reported. Halpern et al. (2012) even found that stereotypes somewhat are under-rated the actual differences in cognitive abilities. Holleran et al. (1995) found that stereotypes about sex differences were accurate for many social behaviors, although the stereotype that females talk more than males is apparently not correct.

Pt.4 Evolutionary Approach: Examples of Variability

The Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI; Simpson & Gangestad 1991) is a self-report measure of individual differences in human mating strategies. Low SOI scores signify that a person is sociosexually restricted, or follows a more monogamous mating strategy. High SOI scores indicate that an individual is unrestricted, or has a more promiscuous mating strategy. Here are some sample items: "With how many different partners have you had sex (sexual intercourse) within the past year?" "How many different partners do you foresee yourself having sex with during the next five years? (Please give a specific, realistic estimate)." "With how many different partners have you had sex on one and only one occasion?" "How often do (did) you fantasize about having sex with someone other than your current (most recent) dating partner?" "Sex without love is OK." "I can imagine myself being comfortable and enjoying 'casual' sex with different partners." "I would have to be closely attached to someone (both emotionally and psychologically) before I could feel comfortable and fully enjoy having sex with him or her." As part of the International Sexuality Description Project (ISDP), the SOI was translated from English into 25 additional languages and administered to a total sample of 14,059 people across 48 nations (Schmitt, 2005).

Women's Empowerment Still Important

The fact that social role theory doesn't remotely explain all sex differences in behavior across countries doesn't mean that increasing women's empowerment isn't important. Many studies show that women's empowerment is associated with positive outcomes, including children's health and economic growth (Duflo, 2012; Rees & Riezman, 2012). The effects are generally beneficial for men too. -Lowen, Deaner, and Schmitt (2014) studied participation and medal counts for hundreds of countries that participated in the Summer Olympic Games from 1996 through 2012. Women's empowerment was linked to greater success for women. To a lesser but still significant extent, women's empowerment was associated with greater men's success.

Pt.5 Examples of variability

The overall sex difference in SOI was moderate to large, d = 0.74. (In U.S., d = 0.73). Men were more likely to say they have an unrestricted or promiscuous mating strategy. The largest sex differences were observed in Morocco (d= 1.24), Ukraine (d =1.24), Bolivia (d = 1.20), and Greece (d = 1.18). The smallest sex differences were found in Latvia (d = 0.30), Botswana (d = 0.39), Germany (d = 0.48), and Switzerland (d = 0.49). SOI varied across countries, but sex was the stronger predictor. -Gender Empowerment and related measures of women's political and economic power were negatively correlated with the magnitude of sex differences in sociosexuality. In other words, as women gain power, they become less sexually restricted and more similar to men. This result is very similar to what was reported by Peterson and Hyde (2010).

Caveats

The sex differences in social behavior described in this lecture are often (not always!) backed up by considerable evidence. However, even where the evidence is strong, the sex differences are average differences. In most cases, males and females overlap greatly in their behavior. These differences should not be interpreted as indicating that "men are awesome" or "women are wonderful." If you think it through, you should see that every difference can be either a positive or a negative. Different is different, not better or worse. We know much less about the causes of these sex differences, the next topic.

young male syndrome

The time of course of increased male violence (and general recklessness) is so obvious that we take it for granted. But why would individuals at the peak of their health start taking huge competitive risks to increase their status? One might think that men would wait until they were old and would have little to lose by dying in a fight

Strategy 2: Disguise competition Always be polite.

There are far more books and cultural scripts regarding politeness for girls and women than for boys and men. -"Disappointment paradigm" reveals girls' politeness (Cole, 1986; Saarni, 1984). When children are led to believe they will receive a desired gift but then receive a broken one, they express negative emotions when alone. However, if they receive the broken gift in the presence of the giver, they often inhibit their negative emotions and smile. Girls are about twice as likely as boys to smile in this situation. Girls and women use polite speech more than boys and men, and this has been found in many societies (Benenson, 2014, p155). "I've got a better idea." vs. "I wonder if there might be another way..." "Just do what I say." vs. "Shouldn't we do this?" "thank yous" and "sorrys" galore

Social Role Theory: Cross-temporal Data cont.

There are many findings that are contradictory or difficult to interpret. Meta-analyses of sex differences on behavioral measures of aggression have not shown temporal trends (Eagly & Steffen, 1986; Knight et al., 2002). But criminologists have established a narrowing of gender gaps in U.S. violent crime even though rates remain much higher in men than women (Lauritsen et al., 2009). Women's vocational interests have changed to become indistinguishable from those of men on the Enterprising dimension, which includes leading, persuading, managing, and influencing (Su et al., 2009). However, sex differences in Realistic and Investigative interests (including more specific STEM interests in science and mathematics) have been stable. Men increasingly prefer women with attributes of good financial prospects, education, and intelligence and decreasingly prefer skills of good cook and housekeeper (Boxer et al., 2012; Buss et al., 2001). Now there are microwave ovens, washing machines, and a 2nd income is needed in most families. Is it really surprising that men's preferences have changed?

Study 4

There are many, many stories of girls, usually teenagers, being excluded by other girls and being emotionally destroyed by the process. Often adults aren't aware the exclusion is occurring until the girl commits suicide or takes other dramatic action. A common pattern is that an attractive new girl enters high school, and she attracts a lot of attention from the boys. The old girls team up to exclude and bully her (Benenson, 2014, p.190). Another theme is that a girl-girl friendship breaks down and one girl seeks to destroy the other.

"Sex differences in personality have been found to vary across cultures. However, contrary to this theory, personality differences between men and women are smaller in traditional cultures than in modern, western ones. Men in particular seem less instrumental in traditional societies. As summarized by Tierney (NY Times) "A husband and a stay-at-home wife in a patriarchal Botswanan clan seem to be more alike than a working couple in Denmark or France. The more Venus and Mars have equal rights and similar jobs, the more their personalities seem to diverge."

These findings were so unexpected that scientists considered a variety of reasons why they might be misleading because of measurement error (e.g. frames of reference for self-description). However, Schmitt et al. (2008) have recently replicated the previous findings in 55 cultures and shown that none of the alternative explanations are supported. Schmitt concludes (in NY Times): "Humanity's jaunt into monotheism, agriculturally based economies and the monopolization of power and resources by a few men was 'unnatural' in many ways," Dr. Schmitt says, alluding to evidence that hunter-gatherers were relatively egalitarian. "In some ways modern progressive cultures are returning us psychologically to our hunter-gatherer roots," he argues. "That means high sociopolitical gender equality over all, but with men and women expressing predisposed interests in different domains. Removing the stresses of traditional agricultural societies could allow men's, and to a lesser extent women's, more 'natural' personality traits to emerge."

Why Don't Women "Show off"?

They obviously do. But, on average, women are expected to display in different ways than men. The reason is that high status may enormously benefit a man's, but not a woman's, reproductive success. And on the costs side, because of her greater parental investment, a woman's reproductive success would be more compromised from physical harm incurred during direct physical competition and from neglecting crucial ecological tasks, such as foraging. Competing could also disrupt women's reciprocal dyadic relationships. Thus, women are expected to compete more frequently through indirect means, such as gossiping, or by processing resources more rapidly than their rivals, rather than by dominating them (i.e. scramble vs. contest competition). In addition, rather than competing chiefly for status, women are expected to more often compete for resources or attributions of attractiveness or sexual exclusiveness.

Young men commit more same sex aggression

This pattern holds across cultures and for all kinds of violent crime. Archer's meta-analysis (2004) also indicated that the sex difference in (non-criminal) aggression weakens by the early 30s, although it still remains large.

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Cooperate with males against other groups

Van Vugt et al. (2007) asked men and women to play a public goods game. Each participant was placed in a group of 6 and was allotted $4. They anonymously decided whether to keep the $4 or invest it in the group pool. If 4 or more group members invested, they each received $8. If an individual invested, they would receive $0 or $8. If they didn't invest, they would receive $4 or $8. So not investing is "safer" but if everyone invests, then getting $8 is guaranteed. Participants in the group condition were informed the study was investigating which university's students cooperated best. Participants in the individual condition were informed the study was investigating individual performance.

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Monitor your capabilities and other males' too Pt.2

Vigil (2007) asked undergraduates at the University of Missouri what they wanted their friends to be like. Men said that, ideally, these hypothetical friends should be intelligent, athletic, creative, socially connected, capable of financial success, and imbued with a sense of humor. Young women were much less likely to mention specific areas of expertise or talents. Fox (1997) found that men were much more likely to spontaneously assess their own fighting ability. Evolutionary theory would predict that men would also make these assessments for the other males they interact with, both those that they are friendly with and those that they are not-so-friendly with. We might also expect women would more often assess their physical attractiveness. -Distinctiveness or uniqueness. Men show much greater motivation to be unique in their behavior (not appearance), and this can be seen as a way to fit into a larger group, where having a unique skill can make one more valuable. In conformity studies, men are less conforming, but only if there is an audience around suggesting that nonconformity is about showing one's uniqueness.

Study 2: Is the Sex Difference Decreasing? Results

With both samples, across all years, events and age groups, men participated about 3X as much as women. This sex difference was highly similar to that found in Study 1. Thus, four large independent data sets correspond. With both samples, the percentage of female participants increased significantly from 1988-2012. With both samples, there was no significant increase in the past 15 years, from 1998-2012. With 21 events per year (7 age groups, 3 distances), there was ample statistical power. The regression coefficients were negative for the past 10 years.

Strategy 1. Compete for status within your group Use direct competition to gain status among men; this often leads to mating opportunities

Women rarely compete directly through physical means. This is because of the costs of disrupting egalitarian social relationships and possible retaliation. Also some of the things women compete about (attractiveness, reputation for sexual fidelity) don't lend themselves to physical competition, which is where the sex difference in competitiveness appears to be largest. Males compete to gain status by winning. Even if they lose, they show others that they are willing to compete. They also gain information about their own strengths and the strengths and weaknesses and their opponents'.

Strategy 2: Form male coalitions Cooperate with males against other groups

Women were more cooperative when they were alone rather than in a group. Men were more cooperative if they were in a group rather than individually