Gender empathy gap

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See also: Sex differences in psychology § Empathy, and Sex differences in emotional intelligence § Empathy

A gender empathy gap, sometimes referred to as an gender empathy bias, is a gendered breakdown or difference in empathy (the ability to recognize, understand, and share another's thoughts and feelings) where it might otherwise be expected to occur. Empathy gaps may occur due to a failure in the process of empathizing based on gender of either the person who should be empathizing or the person in need of empathy[1] or as a consequence of stable personality characteristics,[2][3][4] and may reflect either a lack of ability or motivation to empathize. Many studies show that females have an on-average advantage in empathic accuracy skills.[5][6]

Empathy in different genders[edit]

According to some studies, females may be able recognize facial expressions and emotions more accurately and faster than males, especially some neutral body language. Additionally, females may recognize males' angry emotions better than males, while males may recognize females' happy emotions better than females.[7] Another systematic review on gender differences in empathy among medical students stands out for its robust analysis, encompassing thirty studies with diverse sample sizes and geographic distributions. This extensive scope enhances the reliability of the findings that female medical students exhibit higher empathy levels than males.[8] Researchers hypothesize that females' performance of recognizing emotion is driven by motivation. In other words, if females feel the work requires them to perform higher score empathy, they perform better; otherwise, they will perform no differently than males.[9]

From birth, male and female infants react to emotional stimulations differently. Experiments found that female infants are more likely to cry when they hear others crying.[10] In addition, they make more eye contact with people than male infants.[11] Scientists believe that those reactions of female neonates may give them more chances to feel others feeling, which may amount over the years to a sufficient difference that can explain some of the empathy scores gap of males and females.[10]

Gender empathy gap and sexism[edit]

Sexism[edit]

Two studies examined responses to sexual assault research, particularly focusing on how hostile sexism predicts skepticism. In the first study, U.S. men were surveyed about their sexism levels and then asked about their skepticism towards different research summaries. Hostile sexism was found to strongly correlate with doubt towards sexual assault statistics, more so than towards other topics like breast cancer or alcohol abuse.[12] The second study tested if self-affirmation could mitigate this skepticism but found it ineffective. This suggests that deeper educational strategies might be necessary to address biases that dismiss sexual assault research due to sexist views.[13]

Other literature also shows that both males and females can sometimes exhibit benevolent sexism.[14] When negative stereotypes are held on the basis of sex or gender this is known as hostile sexism.

Studies suggest that sexism and gender roles impact mental health outcomes as males are discouraged from appearing weak which impacts health seeking behaviour in males as they struggle to conform to gender roles where vulnerability is discouraged.[15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Epley, Nicholas; Keysar, Boaz; Van Boven, Leaf; Gilovich, Thomas (2004). "Perspective Taking as Egocentric Anchoring and Adjustment". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 87 (3): 327–339. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.3.327. ISSN 1939-1315. PMID 15382983. S2CID 18087684.
  2. ^ Hogan, R. (1969). Development of an empathy scale. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 33(3), 307.
  3. ^ Mehrabian, A., & Epstein, N. (1972). A measure of emotional empathy. Journal of personality.
  4. ^ Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy.
  5. ^ Greenberg, David M.; Warrier, Varun; Abu-Akel, Ahmad; Allison, Carrie; Gajos, Krzysztof Z.; Reinecke, Katharina; Rentfrow, P. Jason; Radecki, Marcin A.; Baron-Cohen, Simon (2023-01-03). "Sex and age differences in "theory of mind" across 57 countries using the English version of the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 120 (1): e2022385119. Bibcode:2023PNAS..12022385G. doi:10.1073/pnas.2022385119. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 9910622. PMID 36584298.
  6. ^ Nitschke, Jonas P.; Bartz, Jennifer A. (2020-03-01). "Lower digit ratio and higher endogenous testosterone are associated with lower empathic accuracy". Hormones and Behavior. 119: 104648. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104648. ISSN 0018-506X. PMID 31785282. S2CID 208515606.
  7. ^ Christov-Moore, Leonardo; Simpson, Elizabeth A.; Coudé, Gino; Grigaityte, Kristina; Iacoboni, Marco; Ferrari, Pier Francesco (October 2014). "Empathy: Gender effects in brain and behavior". Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 46 (Pt 4): 604–627. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.09.001. ISSN 0149-7634. PMC 5110041. PMID 25236781.
  8. ^ Andersen, Freja Allerelli; Johansen, Ann-Sofie Bering; Hvidt, Elisabeth Assing (2020). "Revisiting the trajectory of medical students' empathy, and impact of gender, specialty preferences and nationality: a systematic review". BMC Medical Education. 20 52. doi:10.1186/s12909-020-1964-1.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  9. ^ Klein, Kristi J. K.; Hodges, Sara D. (June 2001). "Gender Differences, Motivation, and Empathic Accuracy: When it Pays to Understand". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 27 (6): 720–730. doi:10.1177/0146167201276007. ISSN 0146-1672. S2CID 14361887.
  10. ^ a b Hoffman, Martin L. (1977). "Sex differences in empathy and related behaviors". Psychological Bulletin. 84 (4): 712–722. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.84.4.712. ISSN 1939-1455. PMID 897032.
  11. ^ Carlson, Stephanie M.; Taylor, Marjorie (2005). "Imaginary Companions and Impersonated Characters: Sex Differences in Children's Fantasy Play". Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 51 (1): 93–118. doi:10.1353/mpq.2005.0003. ISSN 1535-0266. S2CID 14359259.
  12. ^ Betz, Diana E.; Deegan, Kelly; Gomes, Alex. "Men's Hostile Sexism Predicts Skepticism of Sexual Assault Science". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 48 (2). doi:10.1177/03616843231215373.
  13. ^ Betz, Diana E.; Deegan, Kelly; Gomes, Alex. "Men's Hostile Sexism Predicts Skepticism of Sexual Assault Science". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 48 (2). doi:10.1177/03616843231215373.
  14. ^ Eagly, Alice H.; Mladinic, Antonio (January 1994). "Are People Prejudiced Against Women? Some Answers From Research on Attitudes, Gender Stereotypes, and Judgments of Competence". European Review of Social Psychology. 5 (1): 1–35. doi:10.1080/14792779543000002. ISSN 1046-3283.
  15. ^ "The Gender Gap in Mental Health". News-Medical.net. 2022-01-31. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
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