The saying women are from Venus and men are from Mars has proved all too true with new research indicating the two genders operate quite differently.
A study undertaken by The University of Cambridge has revealed that women are the more empathetic sex, while men are more analytical and logical.
In the largest study examining differences between the sexes, researchers found that women have been right all along in their predictions that men do struggle with the emotional side of life.
Analysing over half-a-million people, the team from the UK came to the conclusion that men probably aren’t the best support in emotional situations and that it’s wiser to turn to female friends if you are in need of some comfort.
According to the data published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, women are better at recognising another person’s mental state, such as their thoughts and feelings, and expressing appropriate emotion.
In contrast, men follow what is described as a systemising approach, meaning they analyse the situation and work on a rule-based system. The study suggests these results are in part due to exposure levels to fetal testosterone, and genetic variation.
One of the main researchers in the study Dr Varun Warrier said the sex differences in the typical population are very clear, especially when comparing the most recent data with previous studies.
“We know from related studies that individual differences in empathy and systemising are partly genetic, partly influenced by our prenatal hormonal exposure and partly due to environmental experience,” he claimed.
“We need to investigate the extent to which these observed sex differences are due to each of these factors, and how these interact.”
However, in terms of actually showing that emotion through facial expressions, a study published in Plos One found women do not tend to display their anger as much as men. But they do apparently show emotions relating to fear, sadness and happiness more than males.
The researchers discovered this by using automated facial coding system to evaluate facial expressions of men and women as they watched advertisements. After analysing their behaviours, the team found men showed more brow furrowing than women. While females smiled more and for longer durations.