Suchergebnisse

Summarizes various scientific literature regarding male-female differences and similarities, not only in behavior, but also in basic biology, physiology, health, perceptions, emotions, and attitudes. This book covers research pertaining to how men and women are perceived (stereotyped) as being different

SummaryMany studies have shown that females smile more than males do in social situations. The present study extends this research by examining a large sample of high school yearbook photographs. In addition to assessing the degree of smiling, ratings were obtained of the following traits for each photograph: hair length, hair colour, masculine–feminine appearance and physical attractiveness. Results reconfirmed earlier research showing that females smile more than males do while they are being photographed. Other findings were that smiling was positively correlated with hair length, femininity and physical attractiveness for females but not for males. When a multivariate analysis was performed, none of these traits predicted smiling in males, and only femininity was significant in predicting smiling in females. Although social learning theories of smiling can account for some of these findings, a recently proposed neurohormonal theory seems to best explain why femininity is related to smiling in females but not in males.

Zambia, a central African country of about 10 million people, is currently exposed to the nonsubjective forces of globalization, including institutional weaknesses such as high unemployment rates and chronic levels of poverty that ipso facto problematize its governance and social development priorities. The first part of the article focuses on an overview of the failure of the formal educational systems in the context of neoliberal globalization. The second part constitutes an examination of ideological orientations underlying neoliberal approaches to the management of the new global economic order. Here the influence of the World Bank in the educational sector is highlighted. The Bank's ideological orientation is contrasted with educational approaches that should privilege human rights as the standard by which to measure development programs, initiatives, and considerations of ecological integrity. The third section, education for informed action for change through organization, is an overview of the work of a particular activist Zambian civil society association, Women for Change, who work with remote rural communities, especially women. Among the goals of this association is the elimination of poverty through gender analysis, popular education, and advocacy on behalf of marginalized segments of the Zambian population. ; La Zambie, un pays d'environ 10 millions de personnes en Afrique centrale, subit actuellement les forces objectives de la mondialisation, y compris des faiblesses institutionnelles telles que des taux de chômage élevés et de la pauvreté chronique qui, par le fait même, rendent problématiques la gouvernance et la gestion des priorités en matière de développement social. L'article débute par une vue d'ensemble de l'échec des systèmes d'éducation formelle dans le contexte de la mondialisation néo libérale. La deuxième partie de l'article porte sur les orientations idéologiques qui sous-tendent les approches néo libérales face à la gestion du nouvel ordre économique mondial, et met en évidence l'influence de la Banque mondiale dans le secteur éducatif. L'orientation idéologique de la Banque est comparée aux approches éducatives qui devraient privilégier les droits de la personne en tant que normes pour évaluer les programmes de développement, les initiatives et les facteurs à prendre en compte en matière d'intégrité écologique. La troisième section est un aperçu du travail d'une société civile activiste de la Zambie, Women for Change, qui œuvre auprès de communautés rurales isolées (surtout les femmes) et dont l'objectif est 'l'éducation pour l'action éclairée visant le changement par le biais de l'organisation'. Un des objectifs de l'association est l'élimination de la pauvreté par divers moyens, dont l'analyse comparative entre les sexes, l'éducation des masses et la défense des droits de groupes marginalisés de la population zambienne.

Studies have documented substantial increases in obesity throughout most of the industrialized world in recent decades. The majority of explanations for these increases have centred around environmental factors such as the increasing availability of high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods and sedentary lifestyles. This study sought to determine if genetic factors might be contributing to the increases in the proportions of North Americans who are obese and overweight. The body mass index (BMI) for a large sample of two generations of United States and Canadian subjects was correlated with family fertility indicators. Small but highly significant positive correlations were found between the BMIs of family members and their reproduction rates, especially in the case of women. For instance, mothers in the sample (most of whom were born in the 1940s and 50s) who were in the normal or below normal range had an average of 4·3 siblings and 3·2 children, compared with 4·8 siblings and 3·5 children for mothers who were overweight or obese. When combined with evidence from twin and adoption studies indicating that genes make substantial contributions to obesity, this study suggests that recent increases in obesity are partially the result of overweight and obese women having more children than is true for average and underweight women. It is speculated that improvements in medical treatments for conditions associated with obesity – particularly diabetes and heart disease – are making it possible for overweight women to live longer and to be more fertile than was true historically.

This study's first objective was to compare the mean birth weights of homosexual and heterosexual men and women. Its second objective was to investigate whether prior male and female fetuses have different effects on the birth weight of subsequent fetuses. The subjects were 3229 adult men and women (the probands), who weighed at least 2500 g at birth, and whose mothers knew the sex of the child (or fetus) for each pregnancy prior to the proband. Information on birth weight, maternal gravidity and other demographic variables was reported on questionnaires completed by the probands' mothers. The results confirmed earlier reports that boys with older brothers weigh less at birth than boys with older sisters, but they did not confirm reports that girls with older brothers weigh less than girls with older sisters. The results did not show across-the-board differences in the mean birth weights of homosexual versus heterosexual women or homosexual versus heterosexual men. However, the homosexual males with older brothers weighed about 170 g less at birth than the heterosexual males with older brothers. It is suggested that this pattern of results may reflect a maternal immune response to Y-linked minor histocompatibility antigens (H–Y antigens). According to this hypothesis, when the maternal immune response is mild, it produces only a slightly reduced birth weight, but when it is stronger, it produces a markedly reduced birth weight as well as an increased probability of homosexuality.

In the past 20 years, several theories of criminal (and antisocial) behavior have been proposed from an evolutionary perspective, some of which specifically stipulate that people vary in their genetic dispositions toward criminality. It is these theories, herein called gene‐based evolutionary theories, that are the focus of this article. Two categories of gene‐based evolutionary theories are described. One category is crime specific, pertaining to the offenses of rape, spousal assault/murder, and child abuse neglect. The second category consists of two general theories of criminal and antisocial behavior: the cheater (or cad vs. dad) theory, and the r/K theory. In addition to assuming that genes contribute to variation in criminal (and antisocial) behavior, all five of these theories assume that natural selection has acted on human populations to open up reproductive niches for individuals and groups who victimize others. While the theories are still far too new to have been fully tested, we derive some of the most obvious hypotheses from each theory and explore the relevant empirical evidence. We show that while gene‐based evolutionary theories open make predictions similar to strictly environmental theories, they also lead to unique hypotheses, several of which have at least some support.

Evolutionary neuroandrogenic (ENA) theory asserts that criminality is a crude form of competitive behavior over resources, status, and mating opportunities. Theoretically, males have been selected for resource acquisitiveness as a result of female preferences for mates who are successful at resource provisioning. ENA theory also asserts that brain exposure to both prenatal and postpubertal androgens (particularly testosterone) promotes all forms of competitiveness, including those that victimize others. The present study was undertaken to test ENA theory by correlating 14 self‐reported measures of offending with a biomarker for fetal testosterone exposure based on the ratio of the 2nd and 4th digits of the right hand (r2D:4D), in a nonrepresentative sample of 445. Both Spearman correlations and negative binomial regressions produced results that largely supported the hypothesized connection between offending and high prenatal androgen exposure, even when findings were analyzed separately by sex. Also, offending was significantly associated with r2D:4D for both males and females. Overall, this study supports the view that exposing the brain to high levels of testosterone and other androgens prenatally elevates the probability of offending later in life.

SummaryStudies have found positive correlations between prenatal exposure to testosterone and masculinization of offspring traits, particularly among females. The present study sought to determine if physical or sexual activity by the mother during pregnancy was related to masculinized/defeminized offspring traits in adulthood. Data were obtained from a large sample of North American college students (offspring) and their mothers. Information about maternal activity levels during pregnancy were reported retrospectively by each mother. The offspring provided self-ratings of various sexually dimorphic traits. Several significant correlations were found. By and large, as maternal physical activity increased, feminine mannerisms decreased and masculine mannerisms increased in the offspring, particularly for females. Maternal physical activity was also associated with increased upper- and lower-body strength and especially with adult height among offspring. Sexual activity by the mother was only associated with upper-body strength and adult height, particularly of the female offspring. Several sexually dimorphic physical traits in offspring are associated with maternal activity levels during pregnancy. Prenatal testosterone is almost certainly involved. The associations could either reflect genetic influences (given that prenatal testosterone is highly heritable) or an effect of maternal testosterone being transferred to the developing fetus. More research is needed to assess the relative merit of these two possibilities.