Did you know that 26 minutes of sleep can increase your productivity by 34%? That the brain does not stop its activity in a dream and is even more active than during periods of wakefulness? That men and women perceive reality and make decisions in very different ways? We know very little about how our brain functions, and we do not take into account the peculiarities of its work in our daily life and professional activity. Meanwhile, such knowledge can help us to be more productive, remember more, learn better, and conduct effective negotiations and presentations.
The results of one experiment can be summed up with these words: a man is a tough dude, and a woman is a bitch. During the experiment, four groups of subjects, consisting of an equal number of men and women, were asked to assess the professional success of the assistant vice president of the airline, invented by the three researchers. Each group was briefly described as a vice president, but the first group was also told that the vice president is male. They were asked to rate the candidate’s competence and ability to win over. The second group was told that the vice president was a woman. Her ability to win over people was rated highly, in contrast to her competence. All test factors were the same, only gender was the variable.
The third group was told that the vice president was a male superstar, a brilliant professional with a fast-paced career. The fourth group was also told that the vice president was a superstar, but only a female, who was taking the express route to a leadership position. As in the first case, the third group rated the man as “highly competent” and “able to win over.” The female superstar was also rated “highly competent” but “incapable of endearing.”
Participants described her with words like “unfriendly”. As I said, the man was good, and the woman was a bitch.
Sex discrimination still hampers people in the real world. In the controversial world of the brain and sex differences, it is essential not to lose sight of the described social effect. There are many misconceptions about the relationship between men and women that are associated with the concepts of sex and gender. Gender is usually described by biological and anatomical differences, and gender by social ones. Gender is determined by DNA, but gender is not. The difference between male and female brains starts with which comes first.
X factor
How do we become men and women? The road to fulfillment of the sexual role begins with the great enthusiasm inherent in usually sexual behavior. Four hundred million sperm are trying to find an egg. Not such a difficult task. In the microscopic world of the human body, the egg is comparable to the Death Star * and the sperm are comparable to starfighters with x-shaped wings. In this case, the designation with the letter “x” is very appropriate: this is how the important chromosome, which is carried by each sperm and egg, is designated. You remember chromosomes from your biology lessons; these twisted strands of DNA reside in the nucleus, which contains the information needed to create man. This requires 46 such units, which can be compared with 46 volumes of an encyclopedia. 23 we get from the mother and 23 from the father. Two chromosomes are responsible for gender.x chromosome.
* The Death Star is a combat space station in the fictional Star Wars universe, equipped with energy weapons of extreme destructive power that can destroy entire planets. Approx. ed.
If you receive a set of two x chromosomes, you will have to use the ladies’ room all your life; and if x and y are for the men’s restroom. The man is responsible for determining the sex. (The wives of King Henry VIII would be glad to know about this, because he executed one of them for the fact that she could not give birth to him an heir to the throne, although he should have been beheaded.) Only sperm can carry the Y chromosome (the egg does not have it ), therefore the sex of the child depends on the male genetic material.
Gender differences between men and women are determined by three characteristics: genetic, anatomical and behavioral. Usually, researchers devote their careers to studying one of them; each difference is a whole island in the general ocean of research. We’ll look at all three traits and start by explaining (in terms of molecular genetics) why Henry VIII is so much to blame for Anne Boleyn.
One of the most interesting facts about y-chromosome is that in order to become a man, the entire chromosome is not needed. Only the initial impetus is required to launch the male developmental program, which is provided by the SRY sex determination gene. This gene was discovered by scientist David Page – director of the Whitehead Institute and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At fifty, he looks twenty-eight. Page has an extraordinary intellect, charm and a keen sense of humor. He is the first molecular sexologist. Or, more accurately, a sexologist broker. David Page found that it is possible to destroy the SRY gene of a male embryo and turn it into a female embryo, or by adding the SRY * gene to a female embryo, turn it into a male. Why is this possible? Worried that men are biologically programmed to dominate the planet, researchers have found
* SR – sex reversal, from the English. Gender transformation. Approx. per.
There is an enormous inequality between the two chromosomes. The X chromosome takes on most of the complex work, while the small y protects the genes associated with it by committing suicide in slow motion five times in a million years. Now the number of genes has been reduced to 100. For comparison: the x- chromosome carries 1500 genes necessary for the implementation of the Embryo project. There is no contraction here.
From each x- chromosome, one x gene is required for the formation of a male . For the development of a female embryo, they need twice as many. Imagine this as a cake recipe with one glass of flour. If you put two glasses, things will not change in the best way. The female embryo resorts to a time-tested weapon in solving the problem of two x : it simply ignores one of them. This tacit behavior of chromosomes is called x- chromosome inactivation *. One of the chromosomes is labeled with the molecular equivalent of a Do Not Disturb sign. If there is a choice of two x chromosomes, maternal and paternal, the researchers would like to know which of them the plaque will hang.
* Inactivation of the x- chromosome occurs in the cells of female mammals so that two copies of the x- chromosomes do not produce twice as many products of the corresponding genes as in male mammals. This process is called gene dose compensation. The inactivated x- chromosome will remain inactive in all subsequent daughter cells formed as a result of division. Approx. ed.
The answer was unexpected: it happens by accident. Some cells of the female embryo hang a plaque on the mother ‘s x- chromosome. Neighboring cells place the plaque on the paternal chromosome. At this stage of the research, no dependence has been identified – the event is considered random. Consequently, the cells of the female embryo are a complex mosaic of active and inactive maternal and paternal genes of the x chromosomes. Since the male sex needs all 1,500 genes of the x- chromosome to survive, and there is only one, it would be foolish to post Do Not Disturb signs. Therefore, they never do it. Inactivation of the x- chromosome does not occur during the development of the male embryo. And since boys should get xfrom the mother, all men are literally mama’s sons. Boys are fundamentally different from their sisters, who are genetically more complex. This loud statement describes our first (genetic) data on gender differences.
We know the function of 1500 genes of the x- chromosome. Now get ready. Many of these genes are associated with brain activity and determine how we think. In 2005, after the sequence of the chromosomes of the human genome was identified, it was determined that a high percentage of the x- chromosome genes provide the generation of a protein involved in the formation of the brain. Several of these genes are involved in the organization of higher mental activity, from verbal skills and social behavior to certain intellectual abilities. Scientists call the x- chromosome the “hot spot” of cognition.
Bigger is better?
The purpose of genes is to create molecules to carry out the functions of the cells in which they are located. From the totality of these cells, the brain is built – the center for controlling human behavior. Neuroanatomy studies the shape and structure of the nervous system and its organs, and the cell, as you know, is the basic unit of a living organism. And the brain, accordingly, also consists of cells. In it, by the way, it is difficult to find those that are not influenced by sex chromosomes.
In laboratories (it should probably be noted that both men and women are their leaders) differences have been identified in the frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex, which control the ability to make decisions. Some areas of these areas are thicker in women than in men. Differences in the limbic system, where emotions are formed and certain cognitive processes occur, depend on gender. The fundamental difference concerns the amygdala, which regulates not only the emergence of emotions, but also the ability to remember them. Contrary to popular belief, this area is much larger in men than in women. The amygdala of the female body communicates with the left hemisphere, and the male – mostly with the right. Neuroscientists have studied the composition of biochemical elements, and here, too, there were gender differences. Consider, for example, regulation of serotonin – the main neurotransmitter in the regulation of emotions and mood. In the male body, serotonin is synthesized 52 percent faster than in the female.
How important are these physical differences? In the animal kingdom, size matters for survival. At first glance, human nature obeys the same principles. We already know that violinists have a larger brain area for the left hand than the right hand. However, neuroscientists have hardly touched on the question of what are the functions of cellular structures. We still don’t know whether the differences are influenced by neurotransmitters or whether the size of the corresponding brain region determines them.
War of the sexes
I have no particular desire to write about this. The study of gender differences in behavior has a long and complex history.
Even our best learned minds have been subject to all sorts of prejudices. For example, the comments of Larry Summers, president of Harvard University, about assessing the knowledge of mathematics and theory of female students nearly cost him his career. He is accompanied by no less intelligent people. Just take a look at this trinity:
“A woman is a powerless man, unable to produce seed because of her cold nature. We, in turn, must treat women as a vice, although included in the natural development by nature itself ”( Aristotle ).
“Girls start talking and stand earlier than boys because weeds grow faster than grain” ( Martin Luther ).
“If they can send a man to the moon … why don’t they all go there?” ( Jill , 1985 graffiti on the shower wall; response to Luther’s quote.)
Thus, the battle of the sexes continues. Aristotle and Jill are almost 2,400 years apart, but in this war we have hardly budged. Even in the era of the greatest scientific progress, using the metaphor with the names of the planets, Mars and Venus, some people try to give recommendations on how to use these differences in relationships. For the most part, I think, their data boil down to statistics.
There are significant differences in how men and women think about certain things. But when it comes to measurable differences, for some reason everyone thinks that scientists are talking about individuals, such as themselves. And this is a big mistake. Scientists study the population collectively. The statistics of such studies are not based on individual results. Yes, trends do exist, but they vary, and often the differences between the sexes are so small that they can be neglected. And they are certainly not enough to say how a particular person (man or woman) will react to a particular stimulus. Indeed, every time the neuroscientist Flo Hasseltine performs a functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, the machine displays differences in brain responses depending on whether she is studying the brain of a man or a woman.
First hints
Knowledge of the biological causes of behavioral differences begins with the study of brain pathology. Men are more likely to suffer from mental retardation than women. Many mental abnormalities are caused by a mutation in one of the 24 genes of the x- chromosome. As you know, men do not have a reserve x- chromosome, and its damage leads to corresponding consequences. If a woman ‘s x- chromosome is damaged , often no consequences can be expected. This fact serves as the strongest evidence that the x- chromosomes are involved in the brain.
Professional psychiatrists have long been aware of gender-specific differences in the type and severity of mental illness. For example, men are more likely to develop schizophrenia. The ratio of women to men with depression is 2: 1 – this result is observed immediately after puberty and remains stable over the next fifty years. Men are more likely to have antisocial behavior. Women are more prone to increased anxiety. There are more alcohol and drug addicts among men. Women are more likely to get anorexia. Thomas Insel of the US National Institute of Mental Health states: “It is difficult to determine which factor, more than gender, influences these diseases.”
And what about the behavior of healthy people? Is there a big difference between the sexes when it comes to mental, social and cognitive functions? Let’s take a look at the latest findings from scientists.
Traumatic situations
While walking with his parents, a little boy is hit by a car. Hardly anyone who has witnessed such an incident will be able to forget it. What if you could forget? Remember that the amygdala plays a key role in shaping emotions. Suppose some magic elixir is able to stop this process. Such an elixir exists, and its action demonstrates that men and women process emotions differently.
You may have heard about hemispheric asymmetry. You may also know that due to the predominance of the right or left hemisphere, people are divided into creators and analysts. This phenomenon can be described with the following example: suppose the left side of a magnificent liner is responsible for keeping the ship afloat, and the right side for making it overcome the waves. Both parties are involved in both processes. However, this does not mean that the hemispheres work the same way. The right one defines the essence of the question, and the left one analyzes the details.
Observing the work of the brains of men and women under conditions of acute stress (he showed them horror films), researcher Larry Cahill noticed that in men the reaction is expressed from the amygdala in the right hemisphere. Their left hemisphere was at rest. In women, the reaction was observed in the other hemisphere. They have activated the left amygdala, while the right hemisphere was silent. If men have their right hemisphere working, does that mean they remember the gist better than the details of the stress-induced emotions? Are women better at remembering details than the essence of emotional experiences associated with stress? Cahill decided to find out.
This magic elixir of forgetfulness is the beta-blocker propranolol, which is commonly used to regulate blood pressure. This drug blocks the production of biochemicals that activate the amygdala during emotional experiences. Its properties were revealed in the course of research on drugs for the treatment of mental disorders, the consequences of participation in hostilities.
Cahill’s subjects took medication before watching the movie. A week later, a researcher checked their memories of the film. It turned out that men who took the medication lost the ability to remember the meaning of what was happening, unlike men who did not take the medication. Women have lost the ability to reproduce details. But these results should be interpreted correctly. They reflect only the emotional response to stressful situations, and not objective data and conclusions. This is not a battle between accountants and dreamers.
Cahill’s results have been supported by similar studies around the world. Other laboratories continued his endeavors and found that women reproduce emotional events from their own experience faster and more intensively than men. Their memories of emotionally important events, such as their first date or vacation, are more vivid. Other studies have found that under stress, women focus on raising children, while men are retired. This tendency, observed in women, is called “protection and support” *. Why this happens is unknown, but the American evolutionary biologist Stephen Gould says: “There is no way to draw a clear line without violating the laws of logic, mathematics and general scientific principles.”
* According to Shelley Taylor’s Tend and befriend theory, under stress, women tend to protect their children and seek support from a specific social group. Approx. per.
This statement reminded me of my sons’ fight, but Gould speaks of a biological versus social confrontation.
Verbal communication
Behavior specialist Deborah Tannen has done an amazing job in this area by examining the gender characteristics of verbal ability. In short, the data obtained by Tannen and others over the past thirty years is that women have excelled at this. Although the nuances are often contradictory, most of the empirical evidence comes from atypical members of the human race, including those with brain pathologies. We’ve known for a long time that speech and reading disorders are twice as common in boys as in girls. In women after a stroke, speech is restored better than in men. Many researchers believe that this imbalance is due to differences in the very process of thinking, and they turn to neuroanatomical data to explain the differences. When processing verbal information, women use both hemispheres of the brain, while men use only one. In women, the hemispheres are connected by a thick “cable”, in men – by a thinner one. In addition, the fair sex has a backup data archiving system that the stronger sex does not have.
These clinical data were used to confirm the results obtained by the researchers. At school age, the verbal thinking of girls is better developed than boys. They perform better on tasks related to memorization of words, fluency of speech and speed of articulation. As girls grow older, they remain champions in memorizing and handling verbal information. However, these data cannot be viewed in isolation from the social context. Therefore, Gould’s opinion also has a right to exist.
Tannen has spent a lot of time watching and filming how girls and boys interact with each other. Her initial task was to find out how children of different ages talk with their best friends, whether they use any schemes. And if such schemes exist, then how stable are they? Will the schemes developed in childhood remain in the student years? What Tannen found was expected and stable, regardless of the person’s age or location. The model of communication adopted by an adult is formed directly by interaction with the same sex in childhood. Tannen’s data focuses on three aspects.
Strengthening relationships
When communicating, BFFs lean towards each other while maintaining eye contact and talk a lot. They use their verbal talent to strengthen relationships. Boys never act like that. They rarely look directly in the face of each other, preferring to look past or askance. They rarely make eye contact and do not use conversations to strengthen their relationship. In the boyish community, another currency circulates – blows. Joint physical activity is the glue on which their relationship is held.
My sons Josh and Noah have played the same game since they learned to walk, a common game of throwing a ball. Josh says, “I can throw the ball up to the ceiling,” and he does it immediately. Children laugh. Noah catches the ball and says, “Oh so ?! Then I can throw up to the sky ”- and tosses the ball even higher. So, laughing, they continue the game until they get to space and God.
Tannen found such patterns everywhere – except for the behavior of little girls. Female version: one of the sisters says: “I can throw the ball up to the ceiling” – and does it. The sisters laugh merrily. Then the second sister takes the ball, throws it up to the ceiling and says: “I can do that too!” And then they talk about how great it is that they both can throw the ball to the same height. The same pattern of behavior is observed in both sexes in adulthood.
Unfortunately, the data obtained by Deborah Tannen has been misinterpreted: “Boys are constantly competing, and girls are always working together.” However, as practice shows, boys are also very cooperative. They just do it through competition, developing their favorite physical activity strategy.
Negotiation
In elementary school, boys finally begin to use their verbal skills – for example, to discuss their status in a large company. According to Tannen, males with high social status issue orders to the rest of the group, verbally or even physically nudging low-status boys.
“Leaders” maintain power over their fiefdoms, not only giving orders, but also checking their implementation. Other strong members of the group compete with them, so the boys who lead the groups quickly learn to fight back. Often in verbal form. As a result, there is a clear hierarchy in the boyish community. And it is strong enough. The life of low-status group members is often sad. The independent behavior characteristic of the controlling establishment is always highly valued.
By observing little girls, Tannen identified various patterns of behavior. Girls in both high and low status (they have a hierarchy just like boys) used completely different strategies for creating and maintaining hierarchy. Girls spend a lot of time talking – communication is very important to them. The type of conversation determines the status of the relationship. The one who is trusted with secrets has the status of best friend. The more secrets are entrusted, the closer the girls perceive each other, however, the girls tend to underestimate the status among themselves. With the help of developed verbal skills, they avoid giving orders. When one of the girls tries to command, her manner is usually rejected: she is labeled as a “commanding officer,” and she ends up in social isolation. Not that in the girl group decisions are not followed … Many girls make suggestions and then discuss alternatives. In the end, a consensus is reached.
Differences between the sexes can be demonstrated with one powerful word. The boys say, “Do it,” and the girls, “Let’s do it.”
Adulthood
Tannen found that over time, these modes of verbal communication become entrenched, resulting in differences in social sensitivity between the two groups. Every boy who gave orders became a leader. Each girl who gave orders became a commander. By the end of school, their demeanor was finally formed. And it manifests itself especially vividly at work and in marriage.
The twenty-year-old new wife is driving in the car with her friend Emily. She felt thirsty. “Emily, are you thirsty?” She asks. Emily, who has experience in negotiations, understands what her friend wants.
“I do not know. And you?” – Reacts Emily. A small discussion ensues between them about whether they are thirsty enough to stop the car and buy water.
A few days later, the same girl is traveling with her husband. “Do you want to drink?” She asks. “No, I don’t want to,” the husband replies.
They had a little fight that day. The wife was angry because she wanted her husband to stop the car; and he was angry because she did not say directly what she wanted. Such conflicts are widespread in family life.
This scenario may well unfold at work. Women who adhere to a “masculine” style in leadership risk being perceived as commanding officers. Men who adhere to the same line of behavior are considered simply decisive. Tannen made a great contribution to proving that such stereotypes are formed in the early stages of social development and, possibly, are due to interhemispheric asymmetry. In all countries, on all continents, at all ages and times, women and men behave differently. Tannen, whose specialty was English literature, revealed these trends even in manuscripts with centuries of history.
Nature or nurture?
Tannen’s results are statistical calculations. She found that language patterns are influenced by many factors: region of residence, personality, profession, social class, age, ethnicity, and origin – all of which affect how we use speech to discuss our personal safety. A social approach to children of different genders is applied from the moment they are born, they are often brought up in a society where prejudices formed over centuries are strong. It’s a miracle if one day we can go beyond this experience and rely on the principles of equality.
Given the influence of culture on behavior, it would be too easy to resort to a purely biological explanation of Tannen’s observations. And since the biological factor greatly influences human behavior, it would be too easy to resort to an explanation from the social point of view. We do not know what is stronger in us – biological or social. This answer is discouraging. Cahill, Tannen and many other researchers have gone to great lengths to find out. However, to believe that there is a relationship between genes, cells and behavior, if there is none, is not only wrong, but also dangerous. Think about Larry Summers.
Ideas
How can we use this data in the real world?
Look at facts through the lens of emotion.
Teachers and employers have a responsibility to take into account the emotional lives of men and women, so they need to know the following:
- Information experienced emotionally is better remembered.
- Men and women experience certain emotions differently.
- These differences are explained in terms of biological and social factors.
Apply the new gender seating principle in the classroom.
My son’s third grade teacher explains the deterioration in results by the end of the year with stereotypes. Girls do well in liberal arts, while boys do well in math and science. And this is in third grade! She knew that there was no statistical confirmation of a male’s greater ability at mathematics. Why, then, was she guided by common misconceptions?
The teacher guessed that the matter was in the social activity of the students during the lesson. It is very important here who is the first to answer the question she asked. In language lessons, girls usually answer first. Other female students react with a collective “me too”. Boys’ reactions are hierarchical. Girls usually all know the answer; boys, as a rule, do not, and they do what is characteristic of low-status males – they shy away. The gap becomes apparent. In mathematics and other natural sciences, pupils and female students are on a par. Boys use the famous “above all” behavior in an effort to reinforce a hierarchy that is based on primacy. At the same time, they also fight with everyone who is not in the top, including girls. Therefore, puzzled girls begin to avoid answering in these lessons.
The teacher is holding a meeting for the girls to test her suspicions. She wonders how they will act. Girls choose to study math and science separately from boys. In the past, the teacher advocated mixed classes, but now she is beginning to wonder about the appropriateness of such a position. If girls lose the battle with boys in third grade, there is every reason to assume that the situation is unlikely to change further. The teacher is forced to take note of this. It took only two weeks to close the learning outcome gaps.
Can this approach be used in classrooms all over the world? In fact, the experiment does not yet speak of a general rule – this is just a remark. Finding a pattern takes hundreds of classes and thousands of students over the years.
Formation of work teams by gender
I once had the opportunity to discuss gender with a group of executives at the Boeing Executive Training Center. After giving them some data from Larry Cahill’s research, I added:
“It is believed that women are more emotional than men, both at home and at work. In my opinion, this is not a completely fair opinion. ” I explained this figuratively by the fact that women perceive the emotional components of the situation with the help of a greater number of entry points (this is the point) and, accordingly, see it in better quality. They just have more information to which they are able to react. If men had the same number of entry points, their reaction would be exactly the same. The two men in the last row were even moved. After the lecture, I asked for their opinion, fearing if I had offended them. But their response stunned me. “For the first time in my entire professional career,” explained one of them, “I felt like I didn’t need to apologize for who I am.”
These words made me think that in the process of evolution, different types of emotional perception of the situation have helped people to conquer the world. Why is the business world deprived of this advantage? A team or workgroup that can grasp the essence and take into account all the details at the same time in a stressful situation – such as M&A specialists – is a profitable party whose marriage is in business heaven.
Training situations in companies are often set up with training situations – for example, a mixed or same-sex working group is formed to participate in a project. Create teams of any size, but educate them about gender differences first. You have four options. Will mixed teams of men and women perform better? Will trained groups perform better than untrained groups? Will these results remain constant, say, after six months? You may find that your heterosexual team is more productive. At least, in such a development of events, men and women will have equal rights in decision-making at the negotiating table.
A work environment can be created in which gender differences are recognized and appreciated. If this had been done before, perhaps more women today would be in science and engineering. We could break the glass ceiling * and save companies a lot of money. And they would even help the president of Harvard University keep his job.
* “Glass ceiling” is a term adopted in American management in the early 1980s to describe an invisible barrier limiting a woman’s advancement in the career. Approx. ed.
Summary
- Men have one xchromosome, and women have two, despite the fact that one of them is reserve.
- Genetically, women are more complex, since active x-chromosomes of cells are a set of maternal and paternal cells. Males receive the x chromosome from their mother, and the y chromosome contains fewer than 100 genes, while the x chromosome carries about 1,500 genes.
- In terms of structure and biochemical composition, the brains of women and men are different – for example, in men, the amygdala is larger, and they produce serotonin faster. However, it is not known whether these differences are significant.
- Men and women react differently to severe stress: women engage the amygdala of the left hemisphere and remember the details of emotions. Men use the amygdala of the right hemisphere and perceive the essence of the problem.
