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Gendered Occupational Interests: Prenatal Androgen Effects on Psychological Orientation to Things Versus People
Abstract
There is considerable interest in understanding women's underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Career choices have been shown to be driven in part by interests, and gender differences in those interests have generally been considered to result from socialization. We explored the contribution of sex hormones to career-related interests, in particular studying whether prenatal androgens affect interests through psychological orientation to Things versus People. We examined this question in individuals with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who have atypical exposure to androgens early in development, and their unaffected siblings (total N=125 aged 9 to 26 years). Females with CAH had more interest in Things versus People than did unaffected females, and variations among females with CAH reflected variations in their degree of androgen exposure. Results provide strong support for hormonal influences on interest in occupations characterized by working with Things versus People.
... A study comparing unaffected men and women in people and things orientation reported a very large (d = -2.02) sex difference, with men scoring higher on things orientation and women scoring higher on people orientation (Beltz et al., 2011). Interest in things relative to people was higher in women with CAH than in unaffected women (d = 0.75) as can be predicted by the higher dose of testosterone to which CAH women are exposed (Beltz et al., 2011). ...
... sex difference, with men scoring higher on things orientation and women scoring higher on people orientation (Beltz et al., 2011). Interest in things relative to people was higher in women with CAH than in unaffected women (d = 0.75) as can be predicted by the higher dose of testosterone to which CAH women are exposed (Beltz et al., 2011). People and things orientation was correlated with the degree of androgen exposure: women with a severe form of CAH had higher scores on things orientation than women with milder forms of CAH. ...
... CAH women also reported a higher interest in scientific occupations (d = 0.56) and mechanical occupations (d = 0.64) but lower interest in social occupations (d = -0.30) than their unaffected siblings (Beltz et al., 2011), which highlights the masculinizing effect of testosterone (cf. Luoto et al., 2019a). ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global societal, economic, and social upheaval unseen in living memory. There have been substantial differences in the kinds of policies implemented by political decision-makers to prevent the spread of the virus, to test the population, and to manage infected patients. Among other factors, these policies vary with politicians’ sex: early findings indicate that, on average, female leaders seem more focused on minimizing direct human suffering caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, while male leaders implement riskier short-term decisions, possibly aiming to minimize economic disruptions. These sex differences are consistent with broader findings in psychology, reflecting women’s stronger empathy, higher pathogen disgust, health concern, care-taking orientation, and dislike for the suffering of other people—as well as men’s higher risk-taking, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and focus on financial indicators of success and status. This review article contextualizes sex differences in pandemic leadership in an evolutionary framework. Evolution by natural selection is the only known process in nature that organizes organisms into higher degrees of functional order, or counteracts the unavoidable disorder that would otherwise ensue, and is therefore essential for explaining the origins of human sex differences. Differential sexual selection and parental investment between males and females, together with the sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain, drive sex differences in cognition and behavioral dispositions, underlying men’s and women’s leadership styles and decision-making during a global pandemic. According to the sexually dimorphic leadership specialization hypothesis, general psychobehavioral sex differences have been exapted during human evolution to create sexually dimorphic leadership styles. They may be facultatively co-opted by societies and/or followers when facing different kinds of ecological and/or sociopolitical threats, such as disease outbreaks or intergroup aggression. Early evidence indicates that against the invisible viral foe that can bring nations to their knees, the strategic circumspection of empathic feminine health “worriers” may bring more effective and humanitarian outcomes than the devil-may-care incaution of masculine risk-taking “warriors”.
... A study comparing unaffected men and women in people and things orientation reported a very large (d = -2.02) sex difference, with men scoring higher on things orientation and women scoring higher on people orientation (Beltz et al., 2011). Interest in things relative to people was higher in women with CAH than in unaffected women (d = 0.75) as can be predicted by the higher dose of testosterone to which CAH women are exposed (Beltz et al., 2011). ...
... sex difference, with men scoring higher on things orientation and women scoring higher on people orientation (Beltz et al., 2011). Interest in things relative to people was higher in women with CAH than in unaffected women (d = 0.75) as can be predicted by the higher dose of testosterone to which CAH women are exposed (Beltz et al., 2011). People and things orientation was correlated with the degree of androgen exposure: women with a severe form of CAH had higher scores on things orientation than women with milder forms of CAH. ...
... CAH women also reported a higher interest in scientific occupations (d = 0.56) and mechanical occupations (d = 0.64) but lower interest in social occupations (d = -0.30) than their unaffected siblings (Beltz et al., 2011), which highlights the masculinizing effect of testosterone (cf. Luoto et al., 2019a). ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global societal, economic, and social upheaval unseen in living memory. There have been substantial cross-national differences in the kinds of policies implemented by political decision-makers to prevent the spread of the virus, to test the population, and to manage infected patients. Among other factors, these policies vary with politicians’ sex: early findings indicate that, on average, female leaders seem more focused on minimizing direct human suffering caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, while male leaders implement riskier short-term decisions, possibly aiming to minimize economic disruptions. These sex differences are consistent with broader findings in psychology, reflecting women’s stronger empathy, higher pathogen disgust, health concern, care-taking orientation, and dislike for the suffering of other people—as well as men’s higher risk-taking, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and focus on financial indicators of success and status. This review article contextualizes sex differences in pandemic leadership in an evolutionary framework. Evolution by natural selection is the only known process in nature that organizes organisms into higher degrees of functional order, or counteracts the unavoidable disorder that would otherwise ensue, and is therefore essential for explaining the origins of human sex differences. Differential sexual selection and parental investment between males and females, together with the sexual differentiation of the mammalian brain, drive sex differences in cognition and behavioral dispositions, underlying men’s and women’s leadership styles and decision-making during a global pandemic. According to the sexually dimorphic leadership specialization hypothesis, general psychobehavioral sex differences have been exapted during human evolution to create sexually dimorphic leadership styles. They may be facultatively co-opted by societies and/or followers when facing different kinds of ecological and/or sociopolitical threats, such as disease outbreaks or intergroup aggression. Early evidence indicates that against the invisible viral foe that can bring nations to their knees, the strategic circumspection of empathic feminine health “worriers” may bring more effective and humanitarian outcomes than the devil-may-care incaution of masculine risk-taking “warriors”.
... CAH is a genetic disorder that affects adrenal glands and results in an overproduction of the male sex hormone testosterone in affected women. Beltz, Swanson, and Berenbaum (2011) reported a very large (d = -2.02) sex difference in unaffected men and women in people and things orientation. ...
... When the researchers compared CAH women with unaffected women, they found that interest in things relative to people was higher in females with CAH than in unaffected females (d = 0.75). CAH women thereby showed cognitive masculinisation according to predictions based on cognitive neuroscience (Arnold, 2020;Beltz et al., 2011;Luoto, Krams, & Rantala, 2019a, 2019b. Interestingly, scores on people and things dimension were correlated with degree of androgen exposure, reflected in both degree of genital virilisation, r(37) = .39, ...
... p < .05. Women with a severe form of CAH had higher scores on things vs. people than females with other, milder forms of CAH (Beltz et al., 2011). Beltz et al. (2011) also reported that CAH women had a higher interest in scientific occupations (d = 0.56) and mechanical occupations (d = 0.64) but lower interest in social occupations (d = -0.30) ...
... Though socialization no doubt plays a vital role, it is hardly scientific to reject a possible biological component by ideological fiat. Biology has been shown to be relevant, for example, in studies of girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (Beltz et al. 2011;Berenbaum and Beltz 2016). Girls exposed prenatally to increased male hormones do tend to express more interest in things than in people. ...
... The exclusion of references also aided readability. Vignette I draws verbatim from a few lines in Patterson (2015); vignette II paraphrases American Psychological Association (2006) and Beltz et al. (2011); vignette III paraphrases Haidt (2016). ...
The field of sociology has long been subject to critique for alleged ideological bias and left-wing groupthink linked to its social justice mission. Critics contend that the construction of “sacred victims” by progressive intellectuals hinders their ability to objectively appraise the circumstances of such vulnerable groups. To address this criticism, we survey 479 sociologists in national universities and colleges in the U.S. regarding three sensitive controversies: urban poverty in the black community; gendered differences in occupational choices; and immigration. We find significant patterns in the data. Commitment to the field’s “moral mission,” preferred research paradigm, gender, and especially political orientation are all significant predictors of sociologists’ views. The results, we suggest, can be understood by conceptualizing the field of sociology as an “emotive community.” In doing so, we draw upon current social psychological research on moral foundations theory developed by Jonathan Haidt and colleagues.
... GR includes overt behaviors such as toy preference, playmate choice, and occupational interests that differ between the sexes. �nlike GI, GR appears to be more heavily in�uenced by early hormone exposure than learning or socialization [85,86]. Most studies of GR in people with DSD have focused on girls and women with 46,XX DSD due to the condition congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) [87][88][89][90]. ...
... For example, some parents of children with DSD reinforce hobbies that correspond to their child's sex of rearing; [97] however, for girls with 46,XX DSD parents do report encouraging sexatypical play [98]. Presumably, this is in response to their daughters' tomboyish interests that have been extensively documented for this group since the 1950s [9,31,[84][85][86][87][88][89][90]. Far more data are available about parents' in�uences on gendered play behavior in children with 46,XX DSD compared to children with 46,XY DSD. ...
Variables that impact gender development in humans are difficult to evaluate. This difficulty exists because it is not usually possible to tease apart biological influences on gender from social variables. People with disorders of sex development, or DSD, provide important opportunities to study gender within individuals for whom biologic components of sex can be discordant with social components of gender. While most studies of gender development in people with 46,XY DSD have historically emphasized the importance of genes and hormones on gender identity and gender role, more recent evidence for a significant role for socialization exists and is considered here. For example, the influence of parents' perceptions of, and reactions to, DSD are considered. Additionally, the impact of treatments for DSD such as receiving gonadal surgeries or genitoplasty to reduce genital ambiguity on the psychological development of people with 46,XY DSD is presented. Finally, the role of multi-disciplinary care including access to peer support for advancing medical, surgical and psychosexual outcomes of children and adults with 46,XY DSD, regardless of sex of rearing, is discussed.
... Recent work has documented early sex differences in propulsive movement (hitting versus cradling an object), with sex-typed activities suggested to develop "from socialization mechanisms that build on a male predisposition to imitate propulsive motion" [14, p. 262]. Furthermore, sex differences in occupational choices (e.g., male-predominance in science and engineering, female-predominance in social service) appear to be driven in part by androgen effects on interest in things versus people [15]. Spatial abilities are facilitated by exposure to high levels of prenatal androgens. ...
... There is little doubt that social structure (e.g., discrimination, child care policies) contributes to the problem [e.g., 68], but it is likely that sex differences in interests also play a role. Prenatal androgen effects on the tendency to prefer careers that involve things versus people [15] reinforce other suggestions [69,70] that women might be engaged by STEM when emphasis is placed on its social relevance. ...
Many important psychological characteristics show sex differences, and are influenced by sex hormones at different developmental periods. We focus on the role of sex hormones in early development, particularly the differential effects of prenatal androgens on aspects of gender development. Increasing evidence confirms that prenatal androgens have facilitative effects on male-typed activity interests and engagement (including child toy preferences and adult careers), and spatial abilities, but relatively minimal effects on gender identity. Recent emphasis has been directed to the psychological mechanisms underlying these effects (including sex differences in propulsive movement, and androgen effects on interest in people vs things), and neural substrates of androgen effects (including regional brain volumes, and neural responses to mental rotation, sexually arousing stimuli, emotion, and reward). Ongoing and planned work is focused on understanding the ways in which hormones act jointly with the social environment across time to produce varying trajectories of gender development, and clarifying mechanisms by which androgens affect behaviors. Such work will be facilitated by applying lessons from other species, and by expanding methodology. Understanding hormonal influences on gender development enhances knowledge of psychological development generally, and has important implications for basic and applied questions, including sex differences in psychopathology, women's underrepresentation in science and math, and clinical care of individuals with variations in gender expression.
... Thus, more important than a mere distinction between contextual or intrapersonal factors is the need to unravel processes through which contextual and intrapersonal factors may impact career development. The environment may influence the career development of children in a variety of ways: from biological influences (Beltz et al. 2011;Halpern et al. 2007), parenting influences (both structural factors like educational and income level, as well as process factors like role modeling and having high expectations of children) (Bryant et al. 2006), to socio-cultural and socio-historical influences (e.g., Ceci et al. 2009;Schoon et al. 2007). In addition, intrapersonal factors, such as attitudes and individual agency variables, may influence several aspects of career development. ...
... For elementary school children, Things-orientation probably contributes to (gender-typical) educational and recreational niche-picking, affecting study and career choice. Although the orientation on People versus Things has received much attention as a psychological model of career choice, its roots seem partly biological as was suggested in a study by Beltz et al. (2011) on prenatal androgens. ...
Although science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) study paths and STEM work fields may be relatively difficult and therefore not appropriate for everyone, too many children prematurely exclude STEM-related study and work options, based on negative images of the field or negative ability beliefs. In the present article, we provide an overview of the literature from different research perspectives that shows that study choice and career decisions made by young adults have their roots in earlier in childhood. In our view, the literature reviewed points to three interrelated factors that are important in the study choice and career development of children aged 8–16: knowledge, affective value, and ability beliefs and self-efficacy building. Based on this review, we argue that knowledge of the STEM field, and of the self in STEM activities, and parents’ and teachers’ knowledge of the early circumscription processes of children aged 8–16 needs to be broadened. Also, negative and often-stereotypical affective values adhered to STEM study choices or careers among parents and teachers need to be countered. With regard to ability beliefs, we argue that we should focus more attention on turning pupils’ entity beliefs into incremental ones.
... Some genetic and physiologic factors such as prenatal androgen might significantly contribute to gender differences of career interests (Beltz, Swanson, & Berenbaum, 2011;Hell & Päßler, 2011). However, from a role congruity perspective (Diekman & Eagly, 2008), the internalization of gender roles leads people to endorse gender-stereotypic goals, which then lead to interest in occupations that afford the pursuit of those goals. ...
... Accordingly, we examine to what extent statements from such publications reflect bias, political activism, and normativity, in the sense of attempting to establish or prescribe a norm. It is further claimed that the espoused theories almost exclusively consider social causes, although biological and individual differences are found to affect, for example, vocational interests (Beltz et al. 2011;Ellis and Ratnasingam 2012;Lippa 1998;Weis et al. 2007). These different causes pertain to different realms where human behaviour and interaction is explained and understood. ...
Gender studies (GS) has been challenged on epistemological grounds. Here, we compare samples of peer-reviewed academic journal publications written by GS authors and authors from closely related disciplines in the social sciences. The material consisted of 2805 statements from 36 peer-reviewed journal articles, sampled from the Swedish Gender Studies List, which covers >12,000 publications. Each statement was coded as expressing a lack of any of three aspects of objectivity: Bias, Normativity, or Political activism, or as considering any of four realms of explanation for the behaviours or phenomena under study: Biology/genetics, Individual/group differences, Environment/culture, or Societal institutions. Statements in GS publications did to a greater extent express bias and normativity, but not political activism. They did also to a greater extent consider cultural, environmental, social, and societal realms of explanation, and to a lesser extent biological and individual differences explanations.
... White et al. (2007) found that individuals with higher testosterone levels and family business backgrounds were more likely to create new business ventures. The scientific literature also provides strong support for androgen influences on interest in occupations characterized by working with things versus people (Beltz et al., 2011). ...
Males and females differ in their preference for occupations and sporting activities, and differ also in risk-taking attitudes. In addition to other explanations, prenatal hormone exposure has been implicated in these gender-associated differences. The ratio of the relative lengths of the second-to-fourth digits (2D:4D) is a proxy indicator of prenatal exposure to testosterone relative to oestrogen. The 2D:4D ratio has been found to be associated with choice of occupation, particularly among females. This study investigated whether 2D:4D differed between police officers and a control group of civilians in Wrocław, Poland. Participants were 147 male and 55 female police officers and 91 male and 75 female civilian controls. The police officers had to undergo rigorous physical ability tests during recruitment and their job bore relatively higher risk, whereas the controls had a normal civilian lifestyle. Height, weight, hand grip strength and lengths of the second and fourth digits were measured. Analyses of variance and covariance were employed to assess the significance of difference in digit ratio between groups (police officers and civilians) allowing for interaction with sex. The policewomen, compared with the female controls, were taller and had stronger hand grip strength, but had lower 2D:4D in the right hand and average 2D:4D of both hands. However, male and female police officers slightly differed only in the right hand digit ratio but not in the left hand ratio or the average for the two hands. However, the control group showed significant sex differences in all digit ratios with higher (feminine) mean values in females. The study provides further evidence that prenatal testosterone exposure, as reflected in the 2D:4D ratio, might have an association with choice of occupation, particularly among females.
... Adolescent girls and adult women show elevated interest in male-typical activities and careers and reduced interest in female-typical activities and careers (Berenbaum, 1999;Meyer-Bahlburg et al., 2006;Frisen et al., 2009;Beltz et al., 2011). Dittmann et al. (1990a,b,c) observed that women with the salt-wasting type of CAH were less interested in having their own children compared to women with the simple virilizing type and their nonaffected sisters. ...
This chapter deals with genetic defects of female sexual differentiation and covers 46,XX disorders of sex development (DSD) and mosaicism or chimerism of the sex chromosomes which lead to gonadal dysgenesis or ovotesticular DSD.
First, ovarian differentiation and typical female sexual development, including brain development, will be discussed. Conditions resulting from sex chromosomal mosaicism and chimerism and 46,XX (ovo)testicular DSD are extensively reviewed, with a focus on both etiology and clinical management. Subsequently, various causes of maternal and fetal androgen excess syndromes are reviewed. The syndromes characterized by aplasia or hypoplasia of the uterus and vagina form a separate entity within the 46,XX DSD category and are discussed thereafter. Finally we will summarize relevant points regarding the independent effects of genetic factors and sex steroids on brain and behavior.
... In the labor market, it is 90% for the health care sector, 76% for primary teachers, 65% for school principals, 58% for shop clerks, 39% for data systems designers, 6% for lorry drivers, 2% for electricians, and 1% for carpenters (Statistics Sweden, 2014). Similar trends are found worldwide (Lippa, 2010a,b), and are consistent with the people-things dimension (e.g., Baron-Cohen, 2003), which is empirically found to explain variance in educational (Su & Rounds, 2015) and vocational choice (Beltz, Swanson & Berenbaum, 2011;Manning et al., 2010;Nye & Orel, 2015). ...
Some Western countries contemplate, or have already implemented, legislative means to counter group differences. Here, I consider the arguments for, and consequences of, sex quotas. I find that it is logically incoherent to impose selection based on group membership, such as quotas, unless one acknowledges that there is a group difference in some trait that affects the outcome in the domain in which the selection takes place. If such a group difference is acknowledged, a quota might decrease the proportion of individuals who are more likely to have undesirable traits that are difficult to measure. However, the fact that traits are normally distributed and overlap across groups means that it is more effective to select for desirable traits than for group membership. Also, quotas inevitably entail negative consequences that should be weighed in. From the perspective of the individual, it is fairer to be selected on the basis of traits one actually has, rather than a stereotype of the group one belongs to. From the perspective of society as a whole, focusing on group differences and selecting based on group membership is divisive and conflict-driving. It stirs hostility by encouraging competition over resources and social status between groups instead of between individuals. These arguments and conclusions are applicable to other groups and group differences in general.
... The causes of gender differentiation of occupational interests during childhood are multiple and complex (Gottfredson 1981;Stockard and McGee 1990;Super 1979); influences include, for example, biological factors (Beltz et al. 2011), parental expectations (Eccles et al. 1990;Fulcher 2011;Simpkins et al. 2015), and gender cognitions (e.g., gender stereotypes; Oswald 2008). Our primary purpose was to examine the role of two characteristics of occupations that may produce gender differentiation of children's occupational interests: workers' gender and value affordances. ...
Occupational interests become gender differentiated during childhood and remain so among adults. Two characteristics of occupations may contribute to this differentiation: the gender of individuals who typically perform the occupation (workers’ gender) and the particular goals that the occupation allows one to fulfill, such as the opportunity to help others or acquire power (value affordances). Two studies tested hypotheses about whether U.S. 6- to 11-year-olds show gender differences in their interest in novel jobs that were depicted as (a) being performed by men versus women and (b) affording money, power, family, or helping values. In Study 1, 98 children rank-ordered their preferences for experimentally-manipulated novel jobs, and they answered questions about their occupational values and the value affordances of jobs in which men and women typically work. In Study 2, a second sample of 65 children was used to test the replicability of findings from Study 1. As hypothesized, children were more interested in jobs depicted with same- than other-gender workers in both studies. Boys showed greater interest than did girls in novel jobs depicted as affording money in Study 1, but not Study 2. Explicit knowledge that men and women typically work in jobs that afford differing values increased with participants’ age.
... Vários motivos podem sustentar o efeito do sexo nas aspirações ocupacionais. Um estudo com uma amostra de crianças, adolescentes e adultos, sugeriu a possibilidade da congenital adrenal hyperplasia constituir um fator biológico dos interesses das raparigas por ocupações predominantemente desempenhadas por homens (Beltz, Swanson, & Berenbaum, 2011). Indo além de fatores biológicos, a variabilidade entre sexos poderá surgir aliada a evidência na infância e adolescência, que sugere que as raparigas estão mais seguras das suas aspirações ocupacionais do que os rapazes (Gutman & Schoon, 2012). ...
... The gendered toy preferences of children are similar to sex-related object preferences in rhesus monkeys (24). These differences may be driven in part by sex differences in the predisposition to imitate propulsive movement (hitting vs. cradling an object; 25), and by preferences for engaging with people over objects (19). This topic is worth further investigation because it helps us understand how biological predispositions play out over development. ...
Why do girls and women differ from boys and men? Gender development is typically considered to result from socialization, but sex hormones present during sensitive periods of development, particularly prenatal androgens, play an important role. Data from natural experiments, especially from females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, show the complexity of the effects of androgens on behavior: Prenatal androgens apparently have large effects on interests and engagement in gendered activities; moderate effects on spatial abilities; and relatively small or no effects on gender identity, gender cognitions, and gendered peer involvement. These differential effects provide an opportunity to move beyond identifying sources of variation in behavior to understanding developmental processes. These processes include links among gendered characteristics, psychological and neural mechanisms underlying development, and the joint effects of biological predispositions and social experiences.
... Bu ayrışmanın nedenini belirlemeye yönelik olarak yapılan bir araştırmada insanlarnesneler odaklı mesleklere duyulan ilginin hormonal etkilerden etkilendiği ortaya konulmuştur. Buna göre kariyer seçimi ve gelişimi biyolojik yapının etkisi altındadır (Beltz, Swanson, & Berenbaum, 2011). Farklı olarak Su, Rounds ve Armstrong (2009), biyolojik ve çevresel faktörlerin davranışları açıkladığı yaygın olarak kabul edildiğinden, mesleki tercihlerde toplum tarafından teşvik edilmenin etkisinin önemli olduğunu ifade etmektedir. ...
The fact that gender studies at the academy focuses on women is due to the fact that women are more disadvantaged than their male colleagues. Women academicians are researchers, teachers, even if the numbers are few, they are the administrators, the parents, and the wife and the list can be extended. However, the disadvantages women experience in academia can be an advantage for men. For this reason, it may be a more holistic approach to create a theory for male academics to take advantage of. In this study, it was aimed to portray the difficulties of being a female academician in Turkey in the light of national and international literature. In addition, the picture reveals a relatively different female academics profile in Turkey, especially in the developed western countries. According to this, being a female academician in Turkey requires confronting the main responsibilities of gender roles such as multiple responsibilities, non-representation in management, and minority in areas of higher interest such as science. However, it will not be right to put the low representation of female academics, particularly in the administrative processes and in the fields of science into gender-only perceptions. This may be due to natural gender and female scholars’ own preferences. The in-depth study of the field will be clarified. Despite all the negative situations, female academics are happy in Turkey, satisfied with their work and love to be academics.
... Girls and women with classic CAH have been found to show some behavioral masculinization, similar to that seen following experimental manipulations of androgens in other species (Collaer and Hines, 1995;Schwarz and McCarthy, 2008). For example, girls with CAH show increased male-typical childhood play behavior (Berenbaum and Hines, 1992;Hines, 2011;Hines et al., 2004;Pasterski et al., 2005Pasterski et al., , 2007Pasterski et al., , 2011, and women with CAH show increased interest in male-typical occupations and reduced heterosexual interests (Beltz et al., 2011;Hines, 2011;Hines et al., 2004;Meyer-Bahlburg et al., 2008;Servin et al., 2003). ...
Individuals with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) experience impaired glucocorticoid production and are treated postnatally with glucocorticoids. Prior research with animals and other human populations indicates that glucocorticoids can influence memory, particularly working memory. We tested the hypothesis that children with CAH would show reduced working memory. Children in the United Kingdom, aged 7-11 years, with classical CAH (31 girls, 26 boys) were compared to their unaffected relatives (30 girls, 20 boys) on a test of working memory, the Digit Span test. Vocabulary was also assessed to measure verbal intelligence for control purposes. Children with CAH showed reduced working memory performance compared to controls, on both components of the Digit Span test: p=.008 for Digit Span Forward, and p=.027 for Digit Span Backward, and on a composite score, p=.004. These differences were of moderate size (d=.53 to .70). Similar differences were also seen in a subset of 23 matched pairs of children with CAH and their relatives (d=.78 to .92). There were no group differences on Vocabulary. Glucocorticoid abnormality, including treatment effects, could be responsible for the reduced Digit Span performance in children with CAH. Other factors related to CAH, such as salt-wasting crises, could also be involved. Additional research is needed to identify the cause of the memory reduction, which will help to determine if more rapid diagnosis or more precise glucocorticoid treatment would help prevent memory reduction. Educational interventions might also be considered for children with CAH.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.
... Identification of this mechanism has potentially important implications for the interpretation of behavioural changes related to early androgen exposure. For instance, women with CAH have been found to show increased interest in male-typical occupations [37,43,44], and these results are thought to reflect influences of androgen on fetal brain organization. Our findings suggest that these results, and perhaps other behavioural outcomes related to early androgen exposure, could also result in part from alterations in processes involved in self-socialization of gendertypical behaviour, processes that occur postnatally and may be susceptible to social influence. ...
Individual variability in human gender-related behaviour is influenced by many factors, including androgen exposure prenatally, as well as self-socialization and socialization by others postnatally. Many studies have looked at these types of influences in isolation, but little is known about how they work together. Here, we report that girls exposed to high concentrations of androgens prenatally, because they have the genetic condition congenital adrenal hyperplasia, show changes in processes related to self-socialization of gender-related behaviour. Specifically, they are less responsive than other girls to information that particular objects are for girls and they show reduced imitation of female models choosing particular objects. These findings suggest that prenatal androgen exposure may influence subsequent gender-related behaviours, including object (toy) choices, in part by changing processes involved in the self-socialization of gendered behaviour, rather than only by inducing permanent changes in the brain during early development. In addition, the findings suggest that some of the behavioural effects of prenatal androgen exposure might be subject to alteration by postnatal socialization processes. The findings also suggest a previously unknown influence of early androgen exposure on later processes involved in self-socialization of gender-related behaviour, and thus expand understanding of the developmental systems regulating human gender development.
... Psychological research on females with CAH has investigated the impact of androgens on gender typical play [38], sex-typed toy preference [39,40], gender identity [41,42], gendered occupational interest [43][44][45], sexual behavior [45][46][47], levels of aggression [48], and spatial abilities [49]. Females with classic 21OHD have also served as human models for the study of early androgen exposure effects on the developing brain [50,51]. ...
Purpose
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) has been shown to potentially affect psychological adjustment. However, most research has focused on females, and knowledge about psychological challenges in males remains sparse. The aim of this systematic review was therefore to assess these in males with CAH.
Methods
We systematically searched the OVID Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases, for articles published up to April 20, 2018, investigating psychological adjustment in males with CAH.
Results
Eleven studies were included in the review. Three main health domains were identified: psychological and psychiatric health, quality of life (QoL), and self-perceptions of reproductive health. Some studies covered more than one health domain. Seven studies explored psychological adjustment and/or the presence of psychiatric symptoms or disorders. Results indicated that males with CAH had more problems related to internalizing behaviors (negative behaviors directed toward the self) and more negative emotionality compared to reference groups. Six studies examined QoL, five of them reporting reduced QoL compared to reference groups. Three studies explored the impact of fertility and sexual health issues on psychological health with varying results from impaired to normal sexual well-being.
Conclusions
CAH seems to have an impact on males' psychological health. However, the number of identified studies was limited, included few participants, and revealed divergent findings, demonstrating the need for larger studies and highlighting a number of methodological challenges that should be addressed by future research.
... Girls and women exposed to higher levels of androgens in the womb tend to have more male-typical career preferences. This is the case both in non-clinical samples (Udry, Morris, & Kovenock, 2008), and among girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (or CAH, a condition that involves exposure to abnormally high levels of prenatal testosterone; Beltz, Swanson, & Berenbaum, 2011;. In light of the hormonal data, and the other data surveyed in this section, it seems reasonable to conclude that sex differences in occupational and lifestyle preferences are not purely a product of culture or socialization. ...
It is a well-known and widely lamented fact that men outnumber women in a number of fields in STEM. The most commonly discussed explanations for the gender gaps are discrimination and socialization, and the most common policy prescriptions target those ostensible causes. However, a great deal of evidence in the behavioural sciences suggests that discrimination and socialization are only part of the story. The purpose of this paper is to highlight other aspects of the story: aspects that are commonly overlooked or downplayed. More precisely, the paper has two main aims. The first is to examine the evidence that factors other than workplace discrimination contribute to the gender gaps in STEM. These include relatively large average sex differences in career and lifestyle preferences, and relatively small average differences in cognitive aptitudes – some favouring males, others favouring females – which are associated with progressively larger differences the further above the average one looks. The second aim is to examine the evidence suggesting that these sex differences are not purely a product of social factors but also have a substantial biological (i.e., inherited) component. A more complete picture of the causes of the unequal sex ratios in STEM may productively inform policy discussions. [Now in print; published version here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348295173_Men_Women_and_STEM_Why_the_Differences_and_What_Should_Be_Done]
... The fact that no personality trait characterizes this dimension of behavior is surprising. One consequence is that researchers studying the influence of hormones on behavior supplement personality inventories with vocational interest inventories (Beltz, Swanson, & Berenbaum, 2011). Following Sarich (quoted earlier) and while speculative on my part, I find it difficult to imagine human groups without members who were highly skilled at producing and using tools (craftsmen) and who did not capitalize on that skill. ...
Experience Producing Drive (EPD) theory is sketched out. The theory, initially proposed to explain the evolution of intelligence, is generalized to all human psychological individual differences (EPD-Revised). Simply put EPD-R theory asserts that human beings are active agents designed to survive in their average expected environment and have evolved numerous traits that facilitate that survival. These traits lead individuals to create physical and psychological environments compatible with their genotypes. EPD-R theory implies that current personality theories lack the necessary perspective to capture this dynamic structure due to a very narrow focus on affective-processing and psychopathology. The theory predicts that the inclusion of a wider variety of individual difference measures, e.g., psychological interests, values, social attitudes and work motivation, will reveal a more meaningful and larger set of basic traits than ordinary personality scales alone. I test this prediction by carrying out a factor analysis of individual difference measures drawn from the domains listed above. Twelve factors encompass constructs proposed by interest theorists, value theorists, attitude theorists and personality theorists. No single theory encompassed all the factors. A factor analysis of these twelve factors yields four super factors that differ substantively from the big five: Dangerous, Authoritarian, Powerful and Down-to-Earth.
... 154). Despite evidence for the heritability and biological bases of interests and personality (Beltz, Swanson, & Berenbaum, 2011;Bouchard, 2004;DeYoung, 2014), Savickas argues that "a self is built from the outside in, not from the inside out as personality trait theorists would have it" (p. 155) and "enjoins vocational psychologists and career counselors not to believe the reification fallacy by treating linguistic abstractions as if they were a real thing" (p. ...
Research on careers, career development, and career management has been growing rapidly in vocational psychology, IWO psychology, management, and organizational behavior. Studies across these different fields have adopted a myriad of definitions, models, and methodologies for studying individual careers. We review these diverse conceptualizations of careers, as well as prominent career theories from many traditions. We then review empirical evidence on the processes of career choice, individual change throughout careers, career persistence, and career success. Finally, we review factors contributing to effective career self-management and different methods organizational career development.
... However, there have been many attempts at generalizing sex-based differences in occupational and/or leisure interests between males and females, based on a general consensus that such a distinction does exist, either between organic and inorganic things. One well-known example would be Things versus People distinction, conceptualized as a dimension of Holland's RIASEC model of occupational interest, which has been employed in representing leisure [64] as well as in investigating sex-based differences in interests [65]. ...
Book reading is an important factor contributing to children’s cognitive development and education for sustainable development. However, in a developing country like Vietnam, statistics have reported a low figure in book reading: only 1.2 books a year. This research study used a dataset of 1676 observations of junior high school students from Northern Vietnam to explore students’ reading behavior and its association with demographic factors, and the family’s reading culture. Data analysis suggests the older the student gets, the less inclined they are to read, and being female and having hobbies of low sensory stimulation are linked to higher preference for reading. Regarding scholarly culture at home, students who read more varied types of books and spend more time on books are correlated with higher reading interest. Reading habits are also positively reinforced by the capacity to access books and parental book reading.
... For example, testosterone differs between the sexes on the order of 2-4 times in foetal amniotic fluid, two times in pre-adolescents (Dorn et al., 2009), and about 10 times after puberty (Vermeersch et al., 2008). It seems that interests and preferences are more affected by prenatal hormone levels (e.g., Beltz et al., 2011), behavioral tendencies such as aggression more by circulating hormone levels (e.g., Pajer et al., 2006), and abilities such as mental rotation by both prenatal (e.g., Burton et al., 2005) and circulating hormone levels, at least in women (e.g., Hausmann et al., 2000). Reviews of the relationship between hormones and psychological functioning cover several hundred empirical papers that report medium to very large effect sizes (Cohen-Bendahan et al., 2005;Hines, 2010a,b). ...
The feminist movement purports to improve conditions for women, and yet only a minority of women in modern societies self-identify as feminists. This is known as the feminist paradox. It has been suggested that feminists exhibit both physiological and psychological characteristics associated with heightened masculinization, which may predispose women for heightened competitiveness, sex-atypical behaviors, and belief in the interchangeability of sex roles. If feminist activists, i.e., those that manufacture the public image of feminism, are indeed masculinized relative to women in general, this might explain why the views and preferences of these two groups are at variance with each other. We measured the 2D:4D digit ratios (collected from both hands) and a personality trait known as dominance (measured with the Directiveness scale) in a sample of women attending a feminist conference. The sample exhibited significantly more masculine 2D:4D and higher dominance ratings than comparison samples representative of women in general, and these variables were furthermore positively correlated for both hands. The feminist paradox might thus to some extent be explained by biological differences between women in general and the activist women who formulate the feminist agenda.
... This phenomenon is often referred to as the 'People versus Things' difference and is best explained by prenatal hormonal exposure (e.g. Beltz, Swanson & Berenbaum, 2011); o across cultures, male and female children have different toy preferences and actually play with different toys. This finding is robust, and the evidence is piling up that biological factors are more important than socialization by adults and peers. ...
Evolutionary Psychology is in line with evolutionary biology and offers testable hypotheses and retrodic- tions. EP has become a multidisciplinary research domain, gathering the brightest re- searchers from different fields of study, including biology, anthropology, medicine, and psychology. Evolutionary psychology provides new ways of thinking about literally every topic in psychology and thus can be used as a framework to serve as a first test for midlevel or mini theories.
If we really want to know how our psychology works, we need to study biology and the in- teraction of biology with our environment, just as biologists need to know chemistry and physics. Understanding human nature better will help us find strategies to counter phe- nomena we dislike such as warfare, racial or sexual discrimination, workplace bullying, unsound internal competition reducing the beneficial outputs of collaboration, etc.
... Adolescent girls and adult women show elevated interest in male-typical activities and careers and reduced interest in female-typical activities and careers (Berenbaum, 1999;Meyer-Bahlburg et al., 2006;Frisen et al., 2009;Beltz et al., 2011). Dittmann et al. (1990a,b,c) observed that women with the salt-wasting type of CAH were less interested in having their own children compared to women with the simple virilizing type and their nonaffected sisters. ...
... 83,84 These girls exposed in utero to abnormally high levels of androgens show a more or less profound masculinization of genital structures and of a variety of behavioral traits (e.g., aggressive play, type of drawings produced spontaneously, high physical activity and toy selection, occupational interests). 79,83,[85][86][87][88] The masculinization of external genital structures in CAH girls is usually detected at birth and corrected surgically to remove part of the penis to reproduce a clitoris and reopen the vaginal opening. Their endocrine milieu is adjusted by administration of exogenous glucocorticoids that will also reduce the inappropriate production of androgens through their feedback action on the brain and pituitary gland to reduce adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion that drives adrenal steroidogenesis, and these genetically XX children are then raised as girls. ...
We summarize here the current knowledge on the biological and neurophysiological mechanisms that control the selection of a suitable sexual partner, and the formation and maintenance of a more or less long-lasting pair bond with this partner in socially monogamous species. These aspects of sexual reproduction have always been of great interest to the general public, but it is only relatively recently that they have become the focus of scientific investigations. Although there are still major gaps in our knowledge, fascinating progress has been made in the understanding of these processes that are so central to biology and human psychology. The first sections consider in sequence the different aspects of mate choice, including the selection of a partner belonging to the proper species and to the biologically relevant sex for reproduction. The individual characteristics that determine or influence the choice of a specific sexual partner are then considered. The second part of the chapter then reviews the neurobiological mechanisms that control the formation and maintenance of a long-lasting pair bond between sexual partners. This section first focuses on studies in prairie voles in which most of the recent progress was accomplished but later discusses these results in a comparative context and intriguingly reviews recent data suggesting that similar mechanisms may also participate in the establishment of long-term sexual relationships in humans.
... Therefore, sexual orientation tends to covary on a masculinity-femininity continuum with other psychobehavioural traits such as selfascribed masculinity-femininity, occupational preferences, sociosexuality, personality traits, mental rotation, and verbal fluency (Rahman et al., 2003;Luoto et al., 2019a;Lippa, 2020;Xu et al., 2020) (though for some exceptions, e.g., bisexual women's higher male-typicality relative to lesbian women on some psychobehavioural measures, see Luoto et al., 2019b;. The biological mechanisms underlying variation in male (Bailey, 2018;Swift-Gallant, 2019;Swift-Gallant et al., 2019) and female sexual orientation (Luoto et al., 2019a,b) are becoming increasingly well understood, and such mechanisms also elucidate the existence of psychobehavioural sex differences in humans (Beltz et al., 2011;Berenbaum and Beltz, 2018;Archer, 2019;Arnold, 2020;Luoto, 2020a;Luoto and Varella, 2021). ...
Psychological sex differences have been studied scientifically for more than a century, yet linguists still debate about the existence, magnitude, and causes of such differences in language use. Advances in psychology and cognitive neuroscience have shown the importance of sex and sexual orientation for various psychobehavioural traits, but the extent to which such differences manifest in language use is largely unexplored. Using computerised text analysis (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC 2015), this study found substantial psycholinguistic sexual dimorphism in a large corpus of English-language novels (n = 304) by heterosexual authors. The psycholinguistic sex differences largely aligned with known psychological sex differences, such as empathising–systemising, people–things orientation, and men’s more pronounced spatial cognitive styles and abilities. Furthermore, consistent with predictions from cognitive neuroscience, novels (n = 158) by lesbian authors showed minor signs of psycholinguistic masculinisation, while novels (n = 167) by homosexual men had a female-typical psycholinguistic pattern, supporting the gender shift hypothesis of homosexuality. The findings on this large corpus of 66.9 million words indicate how psychological group differences based on sex and sexual orientation manifest in language use in two centuries of literary art.
... Studies conducted after this meta-analysis showed the same gender distinction (Diekman, Clark, Johnston, Brown, & Steinberg, 2011;Lippa, Preston, & Penner, 2014;Robertson, Smeets, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2010;Wang, Eccles, & Kenny, 2013;Woodcock et al., 2013). Furthermore, research on sex hormones has revealed that atypical exposure to typically male sex hormones (among females) is associated with more interest in things relative to people (Beltz, Swanson, & Berenbaum, 2011;Berenbaum, Bryk, & Beltz, 2012). These findings have been replicated in a different but extensive stream of research on autism, where the sex difference is described as being between empathizing (women) and systematizing (men) (Baron- Cohen, 2005;Nettle, 2007). ...
Both within and outside academia, social activists sometimes pursue incompatible goals. Psychological and sociological research shows that tradeoffs exist, which means that the pursuit of one socially desirable goal can come at the cost of another goal. In this chapter, I illustrate two tradeoffs that should be considered by applied social scientists who conduct research on social justice. The first tradeoff is between unity (color-blindness) and proportionality (color-consciousness) in the promotion of inter-ethnic harmony. A unity-based approach that emphasizes an inclusive community should not highlight internal divisions. Yet a proportionality-based approach must highlight such internal divisions in order to provide greater compensation to victimized subgroups. The second tradeoff is between distributional parity and intrinsic fulfillment in attempts to increase female representation in science and math. Attempts to create parity sometimes involve pulling women out of fields that they are intrinsically motivated to pursue, a change that can reduce their subjective well-being. For both tradeoffs, I show that empirical evidence supports my claim of a tradeoff, and that influential researchers have neglected the tradeoff in question.
A review of gender role (GR) differentiation from early childhood through adulthood was conducted on males and females in general, as well as on females affected by congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency or complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS). Additionally, retrospective and current, self-rated GR assessments were evaluated from women with CAH (n = 9) or CAIS (n = 12), and unaffected women and men ranging in age from 16 to 59 years. Overall, GR differentiation occurs in early childhood and persists through adulthood. With advanced age, this differentiation may evolve into androgyny or even become undifferentiated for the general population. While more studies of GR exist for girls and women with CAH compared to those affected by CAIS, some developmental patterns can be observed from the limited data that exist. First, girls and women with CAIS report a female GR that persists through adulthood. Second, girls and women with CAH are more likely to report less feminine/more masculine play in childhood followed by interests in male-typical leisure activities and career choices in adulthood. However, our data indicate that women with CAH report more feminine/less masculine patterns of GR with age. Self-reported GR for women with CAH was indistinguishable from that of women with CAIS at the time of study participation in adulthood. With the availability of effective medications for treating hormone deficiencies associated with CAH, affected women are expected to live a full lifespan. Thus, our understanding of psychosexual development into older age is warranted.
Investigations of the link between the Big Five personality traits and vocational interests have typically found no consistent relationships between personality traits and Realistic interests. The present article uses intraindividual criterion profile analysis in two studies to identify patterns in the relationships between personality traits and Realistic interests not found by previous investigations. In the first study, personality scores from two inventories were used to predict Realistic overall, basic, and occupational interests for 574 adults. Realistic–Producing interests were driven by high intraindividual Openness and low Extraversion. Realistic-Adventuring interests were marked by low intraindividual Agreeableness and high Extraversion. The Intellect aspect of Openness, not the Experiencing aspect, drove the Openness–Producing relationship. In the second study, reanalysis of 19 additional samples from the literature confirmed the important role of Openness to Intellect, but not Experiencing, in driving Producing interests. Gender moderated profile pattern shapes. Generally, personality profile pattern, not absolute levels of traits, drove the validity of personality traits in explaining Realistic vocational interests.
This study hypothesized that the facial WHR of celebrity endorsers is associated with their endorsement income. Our sample consisted of the top 100 male and female celebrity endorsers (male = 50 and female = 50) in Seoul. The average annual total endorsement income of celebrity endorsers in 2012 was $1,691,924 for male endorsers and $1,684,474 for female endorsers. A statistical analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between celebrity endorsers’ facial WHR and their endorsement income in 2012 among male (r = −.390, p = .007, n = 47) but not among female (r = .166, p = . 248, n = 50) endorsers. Our findings imply that males with narrower faces are more popular among the media as well as among advertisers. Our study is the first to explore the relationship between physical features, such as facial WHR and monetary income in the entertainment industry.
Gender segregation of careers is still prominent in the U.S. workforce. The current study was designed to investigate the role of sex-typed personality traits and gender identity in predicting emerging adults' interests in sex-typed careers. Participants included 586 university students (185 males, 401 females). Participants reported their sex-typed personality traits (masculine and feminine traits), gender identities (gender typicality, contentment, felt pressure to conform, and intergroup bias), and interests in sex-typed careers. Results indicated both sex-typed personality traits and gender identity were important predictors of young adults' career interests, but in varying degrees and differentially for men and women. Men's sex-typed personality traits and gender typicality were predictive of their masculine career interests even more so when the interaction of their masculine traits and gender typicality were considered. When gender typicality and sex-typed personality traits were considered simultaneously, gender typicality was negatively related to men's feminine career interests and gender typicality was the only significant predictor of men's feminine career interests. For women, sex-typed personality traits and gender typicality were predictive of their sex-typed career interests. The level of pressure they felt to conform to their gender also positively predicted interest in feminine careers. The interaction of sex-typed personality traits and gender typicality did not predict women's career interests more than when these variables were considered as main effects. Results of the multidimensional assessment of gender identity confirmed that various dimensions of gender identity played different roles in predicting career interests and gender typicality was the strongest predictor of career interests.
This chapter provides a review of neural and behavioral sex differences, with a focus on cognitive abilities, and taking a developmental perspective. There are moderate to large sex differences in some aspects of cognition, notably spatial ability. Differences arise in a number of ways, including social factors such as experience and stereotype threat, genes on the X chromosome, and sex hormones present during prenatal life and perhaps later in life. There are sex differences in several aspects of brain structure and function; the origins of these differences and their direct links to cognition are just beginning to be understood. Future work should focus on the genetic and hormonal origins of brain sex differences, links between brain and behavioral (including cognitive) sex differences, and the ways in which brain sex differences are changed by sex-differential experiences.
The syndromes of congenital adrenal hyperplasia, particularly their classical variants, present diverse medical and psychosocial challenges to the affected individual that may affect all stages of life from the prenatal phase through old age. This chapter reviews the psychological outcomes in terms of gender, general cognitive development, psychopathology, sexuality, and quality of life, the factors that contribute to these outcomes, including neuroanatomy and brain function, and the implications for the clinician and the organization of health services.
Sex and gender are key to people’s lives, and are the focus of scientific and popular interest and controversy. Sex-related psychological characteristics reflect more than socialization; they are influenced by sex hormones present during sensitive periods of development, particularly androgens that are present prenatally. Studies of females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) show how prenatal androgens affect behavior across the life span; these hormones have large effects on interest and engagement in gendered activities, moderate effects on spatial abilities, and relatively small (or no) effects on gender identity, gender cognitions, and gendered peer involvement. In addition to showing the complexity of androgens’ effects on gendered behavior, studies of females with CAH provide an opportunity to test theories of gender development, gain insight into how nature and nurture work together, and examine mechanisms of development. The implications of this work have often been misunderstood, so we consider what it means—and does not mean—for biology to influence gender-related behavior.
Dishonesty in communication has important economic implications. The standing literature have shown that lying is less pervasive than predicted by standard theory. We explore whether biology can help to explain this behavior. In particular, we study whether masculinity, assessed by exposure to testosterone during key phases of brain development, is related to lying and deception in a sender-receiver game. We find that masculinity has a significant and nuanced impact on honesty in strategic communication. These effects operate both through
social preferences and through beliefs about the behavior of others.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of disorders that disrupt the balance of adrenal cortical steroid hormone biosynthesis. Production of different classes of hormones is perturbed depending on the particular enzymatic defect. The most common form of CAH is steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency, a recessively inherited trait that impedes the stepwise conversion of cholesterol to cortisol, the main human glucocorticoid, and in most cases, to aldosterone, the main mineralocorticoid. Absence of negative cortisol feedback to the hypothalamus and pituitary glands leads to over-secretion of corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). These altered servo-control mechanisms drive excess secretion of adrenal sex hormones that do not require 21-hydroxylation. These are primarily androgen precursors and progestins, but secondarily estrogens, as well. The most visible effect is virilization of genetic females beginning prenatally in the first trimester, leading to genital ambiguity at birth. Thus, this form of CAH and other congenital virilizing disorders represent a human model for prenatal sex hormone effects not only on the reproductive organs but also on the brain. This chapter addresses what is known about behavior in CAH females in terms of gender identity, gender behavior, sexual orientation, career choices, and parenting. Discrete brain structural and cognitive changes are also described. Finally, the effects of prenatal glucocorticoid exposure will be summarized. In brief, affected girls generally have a core female gender identity but show more male-typical play and tomboyishness compared with sibs (Berenbaum et al. 2000; Meyer-Bahlburg et al. 2004a, b). Most patients display heterosexual orientation, but same sex attraction and sexual activity are reported more often than in the general population (Frisen et al. 2009; Meyer-Bahlburg et al. 2008). Career choice is skewed toward male-dominant occupations in severely affected women. Thus, in contrast to animal models of prenatal androgen exposure, human behavior is not dictated solely by hormones.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is an endocrine condition that requires parents to administer steroids up to three times daily, supplementing maintenance doses with oral or injectable doses during times of illness. The purpose of this integrative review was to explore the management, care, and associated health issues for children with CAH and the family response to the condition. Four literature indexes were searched, with 39 articles included. Four themes emerged: (a) Health- and Development-Related Issues, (a) Effects of Excess Androgens, (c) Life Experience of CAH, and (d) Managing and Averting Adrenal Crisis. Families having a child with CAH face complex concerns related their child's growth, the fear of adrenal crisis events, and the consequences of atypical genitalia for affected girls. Future studies should focus on interventions that provide guidelines to increase parental preparedness in managing adrenal crises and creating support systems for affected girls.
Sex hormones, especially androgens, contribute to sex and gender differences in the brain and behavior. Organizational effects are particularly important because they are thought to be permanent, reflecting hormone exposure during sensitive periods of development. In human beings, they are often studied with natural experiments in which sex hormones are dissociated from other biopsychosocial aspects of development, such as genes and experiences. Indeed, the greatest evidence for organizational effects on sex differences in human behavior comes from studies of females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), who have heightened prenatal androgen exposure, female‐typical rearing, and masculinized toy play, activity and career interests, spatial skills, and some personal characteristics. Interestingly, however, neuroimaging studies of females with CAH have revealed few neural mechanisms underlying these hormone‐behavior links, with the exception of emotion processing; studies have instead shown reduced gray matter volumes and reduced white matter integrity most consistent with other disease‐related processes. The goals of this narrative review are to: (a) describe methods for studying prenatal androgen influences, while offering a brief overview of behavioral outcomes; (b) provide a critical methodological review of neuroimaging research on females with CAH; (c) present an illustrative analysis that overcomes methodological limitations of previous work, focusing on person‐specific neural reward networks (and their associations with sensation seeking) in women with CAH and their unaffected sisters in order to inform future research questions and approaches that are most likely to reveal organizational hormone effects on brain structure and function.
There are national differences in scientific activity that are not well accounted for by economic and intellectual factors alone. We examine the novel hypothesis that androgen levels may also play a role. Androgens are often referred to as male hormones, but are present in both men and women, and have been linked to performance in other domains, such as sports and entrepreneurship. National‐level empirical data on scientific productivity, in terms of numbers of publications, and science Nobel laureates were compared to seven national‐level androgen indicators; namely androgenic body hair, the length of the CAG repeat on the androgen receptor gene, prostate cancer incidence, male and female 2D:4D finger ratio, and sex frequency and number of partners. The majority of these indicators were associated in the expected direction with per capita number of scientific publications and Nobel prizes. Moreover, several indicators significantly interacted with national‐level estimates of intelligence, such that androgen levels are related to measures of the scientific achievement only when the level of intelligence is relatively high. These findings may partly explain the global distribution of scientific productivity, achievements, and Nobel prizes.
Irving Gottesman is known primarily for his work in psychopathology, but he also had a long-standing interest in understanding psychological development generally (typical and atypical). Through his mentorship, he also influenced work in gender development. Characteristics related to sex and gender are ideally suited to study the interplay of genes and environment across development. We discuss how gender development is influenced by gonadal hormones present during early life, but not in a simple way. We describe some of the challenges and opportunities to extend our understanding of the complexity of gender development. Throughout, we consider the kinds of questions Gottesman would likely have asked and emphasize his influence on our work.
The aims of this article are: (i) to provide a quantitative overview of sex differences in human psychological attributes; and (ii) to consider evidence for their possible evolutionary origins. Sex differences were identified from a systematic literature search of meta‐analyses and large‐sample studies. These were organized in terms of evolutionary significance as follows: (i) characteristics arising from inter‐male competition (within‐sex aggression; impulsiveness and sensation‐seeking; fearfulness; visuospatial and object‐location memory; object‐centred orientations); (ii) those concerning social relations that are likely to have arisen from women's adaptations for small‐group interactions and men's for larger co‐operative groups (person‐centred orientation and social skills; language; depression and anxiety); (iii) those arising from female choice (sexuality; mate choice; sexual conflict). There were sex differences in all categories, whose magnitudes ranged from (i) small (object location memory; negative emotions), to (ii) medium (mental rotation; anxiety disorders; impulsivity; sex drive; interest in casual sex), to (iii) large (social interests and abilities; sociosexuality); and (iv) very large (escalated aggression; systemizing; sexual violence). Evolutionary explanations were evaluated according to whether: (i) similar differences occur in other mammals; (ii) there is cross‐cultural consistency; (iii) the origin was early in life or at puberty; (iv) there was evidence for hormonal influences; and (v), where possible, whether there was evidence for evolutionarily derived design features. The evidence was positive for most features in most categories, suggesting evolutionary origins for a broad range of sex differences. Attributes for which there was no sex difference are also noted. Within‐sex variations are discussed as limitations to the emphasis on sex differences.
We provide an in-depth review of the role of androgens in male maturation and development from the fetal stage through adolescence into emerging adulthood and discuss the treatment of disorders of androgen production throughout these time periods. Testosterone, the primary androgen produced by males, has both anabolic and androgenic effects. Androgen exposure induces virilization and anabolic body composition changes during fetal development, influences growth and virilization during infancy and stimulates development of secondary sexual characteristics, growth acceleration, bone mass accrual, and alterations of body composition during puberty.
Disorders of androgen production may be subdivided into hypo- or hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism may be congenital or acquired, resulting from cranial radiation or trauma, although there are many less common causes. Hypergonadotropic hypogonadism occurs in males with Klinefelter syndrome and may occur in response to pelvic radiation, certain chemotherapeutic agents, and other less common causes. These disorders all require testosterone replacement therapy during pubertal maturation and many require life-long replacement.
Androgen (or gonadotropin) therapy is clearly beneficial in those with persistent hypogonadism and self-limited delayed puberty and is now widely used in transgender male adolescents. With more widespread use and newer formulations approved for adults, data from long-term randomized placebo-controlled trials are needed to enable pediatricians to identify the optimal age of initiation, route of administration and dosing frequency to address the unique needs of their patients.
This chapter provides a developmental perspective to understanding neural and behavioral sex differences, focusing on cognition. There are sex differences in many skills, with sizes depending upon the aspect of cognition; the largest difference is in spatial skills. Differences arise in several ways, including social factors such as experience, genes, and sex hormones present during prenatal life and later in life (e.g., adolescence). There are sex differences in several aspects of brain structure and function, too, although most are small. The origins of these differences and their direct links to cognition are complex but beginning to be understood. Again, sex hormones seem to be a primary contributor. Future work should focus on genetic and hormonal influences on brain sex differences, the links between brain and behavioral (including cognitive) sex differences, and the ways in which brain sex differences are changed by gendered experiences.
PurposePatients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) have an increased risk of psychological/psychiatric symptoms and disorders. This study aimed to assess the behavior of girls with CAH and its independent risk variables.Methods
This cross-sectional study included 55 girls with CAH due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (mean age 12.64 ± 1.52 years; salt-wasting (SW) form = 20, simple virilizing (SV) form = 35). Psychiatric interviewing and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (parent-reporting questionnaires) were used to assess behavior.ResultsCompared to controls (n = 60), patients had a high total SDQ score (P = 0.001) and emotional, conduct, and hyperactivity-inattention symptoms, peer relationship problems (P = 0.001 for all), and prosocial behavior (p = 0.01) subscale scores, indicating externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems. Severe emotional symptoms and poor disease control were found with SW compared to the SV form. Multiple linear regression showed that bone age (BA) (β = 0.331, t = 3.608; P = 0.001) and 17-OHP (β = 0.408, t = 4.220; P = 0.001), testosterone (β = 0.348, t = 3.220; P = 0.001), and androstenedione (β = 0.238, t = 2.487; P = 0.015) levels were independently associated with behavioral problems.Conclusion
Females with CAH had frequent and severe behavioral symptoms. Excess androgenization, which was in part due to suboptimal steroid therapy, was the cause of the behavioral problems. Therefore, early optimization of CAH management should be stressed to prevent psychological consequences.
It is a well-known and widely lamented fact that men outnumber women in a number of fields in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). The most commonly discussed explanations for the gender gaps are discrimination and socialization, and the most common policy prescriptions target those ostensible causes. However, a great deal of evidence in the behavioural sciences suggests that discrimination and socialization are only part of the story. The purpose of this paper is to highlight other aspects of the story: aspects that are commonly overlooked or downplayed. More precisely, the paper has two main aims. The first is to examine the evidence that factors other than workplace discrimination contribute to the gender gaps in STEM. These include relatively large average sex differences in career and lifestyle preferences, and relatively small average differences in cognitive aptitudes – some favouring males, others favouring females – which are associated with progressively larger differences the further above the average one looks. The second aim is to examine the evidence suggesting that these sex differences are not purely a product of social factors but also have a substantial biological (i.e. inherited) component. A more complete picture of the causes of the unequal sex ratios in STEM may productively inform policy discussions.
Of the various behavioral differences between males and females, physical aggression is one of the largest. Regardless of gender, children’s physical aggressiveness peaks between two and four years of age but then starts diverging, as girls learn more quickly than boys to suppress such overt behaviors. By puberty there is a sizable gender difference in physical aggression and violence. Studies in rodents suggest that sex differences in aggression and rough-and-tumble play are mediated by the amygdala, whose volume in males is enhanced by prenatal testosterone. However, efforts to extend this model to humans have shown limited success. This paper takes a critical look at current assumptions about gender differences in aggression and their neural basis. Aggression and empathy are competing impulses that engage much of the same cortico-limbic circuitry and are highly sensitive to social factors and early adversity. Learning, or neuroplasticity, is both a primary cause and key intervention for minimizing male aggression and violence. © 2021 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved.
Digit ratio (2D:4D) is a negative correlate of prenatal testosterone. The current study tested the hypothesis that 2D:4D would be associated with the type of military service chosen by young Korean males. Our sample consisted of 128 young males aged 22–26 years (M = 24.32, SD = 0.89). We measured the 2D:4D on the participants’ right hands and explored its relationship to their selection of one of four branches of military service. Statistical analysis found no significant differences among the four branches of military service but supported our hypothesis of significant group differences in 2D:4D between Marines and all non-Marines. As expected, members of the Marine Corps demonstrated the lowest digit ratios, whereas those in the Army showed the highest. The average 2D:4D was 0.94 (SD = 0.05) for the Marine Corps, 0.95 (SD = 0.07) for the Air Force, 0.96 (SD = 0.06) for the Navy, and 0.97 (SD = 0.06) for the Army. Our research found evidence of small but significant group differences in 2D:4D among members of different branches of military service. We conclude that low 2D:4D is related to the risk and severity associated with the type of military training selected by recruits.
The magnitude and variability of sex differences in vocational interests were examined in the present meta-analysis for Holland's (1959, 1997) categories (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional), Prediger's (1982) Things-People and Data-Ideas dimensions, and the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) interest areas. Technical manuals for 47 interest inventories were used, yielding 503,188 respondents. Results showed that men prefer working with things and women prefer working with people, producing a large effect size (d = 0.93) on the Things-People dimension. Men showed stronger Realistic (d = 0.84) and Investigative (d = 0.26) interests, and women showed stronger Artistic (d = -0.35), Social (d = -0.68), and Conventional (d = -0.33) interests. Sex differences favoring men were also found for more specific measures of engineering (d = 1.11), science (d = 0.36), and mathematics (d = 0.34) interests. Average effect sizes varied across interest inventories, ranging from 0.08 to 0.79. The quality of interest inventories, based on professional reputation, was not differentially related to the magnitude of sex differences. Moderators of the effect sizes included interest inventory item development strategy, scoring method, theoretical framework, and sample variables of age and cohort. Application of some item development strategies can substantially reduce sex differences. The present study suggests that interests may play a critical role in gendered occupational choices and gender disparity in the STEM fields.
Gender-atypical behavior has been described in young girls as well as in women with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to a CYP21A2 deficiency.
The aim of the study was to assess health-related, psychosexual, and psychosocial parameters and correlate the results to CYP21A2 genotype.
Sixty-two Swedish women with CAH and age-matched controls completed a 120-item questionnaire and a validated quality of life instrument [psychological general well-being (PGWB) formula] to identify psychosexual and psychosocial parameters. The patients were divided into four CYP21A2 genotype groups.
The women with CAH held more male-dominant occupations (30%) compared to controls (13%) (P = 0.04), especially those in the null genotype group (55%) (P = 0.006). They also reported a greater interest in rough sports (74%) compared to controls (50%) (P = 0.007). Eight women with CAH (14%) reported a prime interest in motor vehicles, compared to none of the controls (P = 0.002). Non-heterosexual orientation was reported by 19% of women with CAH (P = 0.005), 50% in the null genotype group (P = 0.0001), 30% in I2 splice (NS), and 5% in I172N (NS). PGWB total score did not differ between patients and controls.
We identified increased gender-atypical behavior in women with CAH that could be correlated to the CYP21A2 genotype. This speaks in favor of dose-dependent effects of prenatal androgens on the development of higher brain functions. The impact of the disease on upbringing and interpersonal relationships did not correlate with disease severity, indicating that other factors, such as coping strategies, are important for psychosocial adaptation. This illustrates the need for psychological support to parents and patients.
The 1959 publication of "Organizing action of prenatally administered testosterone propionate on the tissues mediating mating behavior in the female guinea pig" by Charles H. Phoenix, Robert W. Goy, Arnold A. Gerall, and William C. Young transformed how sex differences in mating behavior were thought to develop. Previous work provided extensive evidence that steroid hormones activated patterns of male and female sexual behavior, but only activated the behavioral patterns typical of a given sex. The 1959 paper explained this phenomenon by arguing that androgens, or their metabolites, acting at specific time(s) during development sexually dimorphically organized the tissues mediating mating behavior, which were activated by appropriate hormonal stimulation in adulthood. Thus, exposure to steroids at specific time(s) permanently altered the structure or function of the organism. The exact hormone, exact timing, exact mechanism, and exact tissues were unspecified in the article. The last two paragraphs of the discussion illustrate the investigators' unresolved views. The first proposes that the 'organization' was likely to be functional and not evident in visible structure, whereas the next paragraph argues that behavioral change implies structural change and thus structural changes are the likely consequence of steroid actions. These unresolved issues have produced extensive work in the intervening 50 years. The papers in this issue mark the 50th anniversary of this landmark paper and reflect the scope and relevance of the issues raised in the original paper and demonstrate the progress that has been made in understanding the Organizational Hypothesis and its impact on sexual differentiation.
Systematic behavioral studies show that females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (CAH) are masculinized and defeminized in several ways; compared to their sisters, they play more with boys' toys, are more likely to use aggression when provoked, and show less interest in infants. We studied the extent to which these behavioral changes could be attributed to high levels of androgens in the prenatal vs. postnatal periods in 23 girls with CAH, aged 3-12 yr. Sex-atypical behavior was significantly associated with degree of inferred prenatal, but not postnatal, androgen excess; marked boy-typical play was associated with severe salt-wasting CAH, early age at diagnosis, and moderate genital masculinization at birth, but not with bone age advance, concurrent or cumulative high levels of 17-hydroxyprogesterone, or accelerated growth velocity in early childhood. Aggression and interest in infants were not consistently associated with indicators of prenatal or postnatal androgen excess, probably because those behaviors were measured less reliably than was toy play. The results are consistent with the idea that behavioral masculinization in girls with CAH results from high levels of androgens during fetal development and not in postnatal life.
Previous studies have shown that girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a syndrome resulting in overproduction of adrenal androgens from early fetal life, are behaviorally masculinized. We studied play with toys in a structured play situation and correlated the results with disease severity, assessed by CYP21 genotyping, and age at diagnosis. Girls with CAH played more with masculine toys than controls when playing alone. In addition, we could demonstrate a dose-response relationship between disease severity (i.e. degree of fetal androgen exposure) and degree of masculinization of behavior. The presence of a parent did not influence the CAH girls to play in a more masculine fashion. Four CAH girls with late diagnosis are also described. Three of the four girls played exclusively with one of the masculine toys, a constructional toy. Our results support the view that prenatal androgen exposure has a direct organizational effect on the human brain to determine certain aspects of sex-typed behavior.
Toy choices of 3- to 10-year-old children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and of their unaffected siblings were assessed. Also assessed was parental encouragement of sex-typed toy play. Girls with CAH displayed more male-typical toy choices than did their unaffected sisters, whereas boys with and without CAH did not differ. Mothers and fathers encouraged sex-typical toy play in children with and without CAH. However, girls with CAH received more positive feedback for play with girls' toys than did unaffected girls. Data show that increased male-typical toy play by girls with CAH cannot be explained by parental encouragement of male-typical toy play. Although parents encourage sex-appropriate behavior, their encouragement appears to be insufficient to override the interest of girls with CAH in cross-sexed toys.
The present meta-analysis examined the stability of vocational interests from early adolescence (age 12) to middle adulthood (age 40). Stability was represented by rank-order and profile correlations. Interest stability remained unchanged during much of adolescence and increased dramatically during the college years (age 18-21.9), where it remained for the next 2 decades. Analyses of potential moderators showed that retest time interval was negatively related to interest stability and that rank-order stability was less stable than profile stability. Although cohort standings did not moderate stability, interests of the 1940s birth cohort were less stable than those of other cohorts. Furthermore, interests reflecting hands-on physical activities and self-expressive/artistic activities were more stable than scientific, social, enterprising, and clerical interests. Vocational interests showed substantial continuity over time, as evidenced by their higher longitudinal stability when compared with rank-order stability of personality traits. The findings are discussed in the context of psychosocial development.
I summarize a theoretical model of the social, cultural, and psychological influences on achievement-related choices and outline how this model can help us understand gendered educational and occupational choices. I argue that both gender differences and individual differences within each gender in educational and occupational choices are linked to differences in individuals’ expectations for success and subjective task value. With regard to the gender difference in the occupations linked to math and physical science in particular, females are less likely to enter these fields than males both because they have less confidence in their math and physical science abilities and because they place less subjective value on these fields than they place on other possible occupational niches. Furthermore, gendered socialization practices at home, in the schools, and among peers play a major role in shaping these individual differences in self-perceptions and subjective task values. I relate these theoretical and empirical conclusions to the other four papers in this special section.
The goals of the current study were to examine (1) the relation between parents' gender-typed occupational expectations for their children at age 15 and their children's own reports of occupational expectations at age 17; (2) the long-term relations between parents' gender-typed occupational expectations for their children at age 17 and their children's actual occupation at age 28; and (3) the relation between job satisfaction and having a gender-traditional or nontraditional job. The results indicated that parents' gender-typed occupational expectations were significantly related to children's own expectations and to their actual career choices, and job satisfaction was significantly related to having a gender-typed career. These findings suggest that parents' early gender-typed expectations for their children's occupational achievements were highly related to the actual occupational decisions made by the adult children.
This study reports a 30-year follow-up of 107 former high school juniors and seniors from a rural Midwestern community who completed the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS) in 1975 and 2005.Absolute, intra-individual, and test-retest stability of interests, and predictive validity of occupations were examined. Results showed minor absolute (mean) changes, moderate intra-individual stability (Spearman rho = .54), and scale test-retest correlations ranging from .10 to .76. This study corroborates earlier stability studies and extends our understanding of why some individuals show unstable interest patterns. Several Time 1 KOIS interest scores correlated with intra-individual stability itself. Comparisons between 1975 KOIS scores and 2005 occupation using the Brown-Gore C-index demonstrated predictive validity by yielding fit indices for women and men exceeding the theoretical mean. Findings inform our understanding of midlife career development and have implications for career counseling practice.
Hypothesized that psychologically "androgynous" individuals (as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) might be more likely than either masculine or feminine individuals to display sex role adaptability across situations, engaging in situationally effective behavior without regard for its stereotype as more appropriate for one sex or the other. 2 experiments with a total of 108 college students supported this hypothesis. Androgynous Ss of both sexes displayed "masculine" independence when under pressure to conform, and "feminine" playfullness when given the opportunity to interact with a tiny kitten. In contrast, all of the nonandrogynous Ss displayed behavioral deficits of one sort of another, with the feminine females showing perhaps the greatest deficit of all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
—Amid ongoing public speculation about the reasons for sex differences in careers in science and mathematics, we present a consensus statement that is based on the best available scientific evidence. Sex differ-ences in science and math achievement and ability are smaller for the mid-range of the abilities distribution than they are for those with the highest levels of achievement and ability. Males are more variable on most measures of quantitative and visuospatial ability, which necessarily results in more males at both high-and low-ability extremes; the reasons why males are often more variable remain elusive. Successful careers in math and science require many types of cognitive abilities. Females tend to excel in verbal abilities, with large differences between females and males found when assessments include writing samples. High-level achievement in science and math requires the ability to communicate effectively and comprehend abstract ideas, so the female advantage in writing should be helpful in all academic domains. Males outperform females on most measures of visuospatial abilities, which have been implicated as contributing to sex differences on standardized exams in mathematics and science. An evolutionary account of sex differences in mathematics and science supports the conclusion that, although sex differences in math and science performance have not directly evolved, they could be indirectly related to differences in interests and specific brain and cognitive systems. We review the brain basis for sex differences in science and mathematics, describe consistent effects, and identify numerous possible correlates. Experience alters brain structures and functioning, so causal statements about brain differences and success in math and science are circular. A wide range of sociocultural forces contribute to sex differences in mathematics and science achievement and ability—including the effects of family, neighborhood, peer, and school influences; training and experience; and cultural practices. We conclude that early experience, biological factors, educational policy, and cultural context affect the number of women and men who pursue advanced study in science and math and that these effects add and interact in complex ways. There are no single or simple answers to the complex questions about sex differences in science and mathematics.
Despite recent efforts to increase the participation of women in advanced educational training and high-status professional fields, women and men are still concentrated in different occupations and educational programs, and women are still underrepresented in many high-status occupational fields-particularly those associated with physical science, engineering, and applied mathematics. Many factors, ranging from outright discrimination to the processes associated with gender role socialization, contribute to these gendered patterns of educational and occupational choices. This paper summarizes a set of social and psychological factors that Eccles and her colleagues have been studying for the past 15 years in an effort to understand the occupational and educational choices of women and men. The paper summarizes the key features of the theoretical model they developed and provides an overview of the empirical support now available for key aspects of this model. The implications of this model for understanding the link between gender roles and gendered educational and occupational decisions are discussed.
Holland uses a hexagon to model relationships among his six types of vocational interests. This paper provides empirical evidence regarding the nature of the interest dimensions underlying the hexagon. Two studies are reported. Study 1 examines the extent to which two theory-based dimensions—data/ideas and things/people—fit 27 sets of intercorrelations for Holland's types. Three of the data sets involve the mean scores of career groups (total of 228 groups and 35,060 individuals); 24 involve the scores for individuals (total of 11,275). Study 2 explores the heuristic value of the data/ideas and things/people dimensions by determining whether they contribute to the understanding of why interest inventories work. Two data sets covering a total of 563 occupations are used to calculate correlations between the vocational interests of persons and the tasks which characterize the persons' occupations. Each occupation's principal work tasks are determined from job analysis data obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor. Study 1 results provide substantial support for the theory-based dimensions. Study 2 results suggest that interest inventories “work” primarily because they tap activity preferences which parallel work tasks. Counseling and research applications of the data/ideas and things/people dimensions are suggested and implications for interest assessment are noted.
Although women have nearly attained equality with men in several formerly male-dominated fields, they remain underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We argue that one important reason for this discrepancy is that STEM careers are perceived as less likely than careers in other fields to fulfill communal goals (e.g., working with or helping other people). Such perceptions might disproportionately affect women's career decisions, because women tend to endorse communal goals more than men. As predicted, we found that STEM careers, relative to other careers, were perceived to impede communal goals. Moreover, communal-goal endorsement negatively predicted interest in STEM careers, even when controlling for past experience and self-efficacy in science and mathematics. Understanding how communal goals influence people's interest in STEM fields thus provides a new perspective on the issue of women's representation in STEM careers.
Mammals, including humans, show sex differences in juvenile play behavior. In rodents and nonhuman primates, these behavioral sex differences result, in part, from sex differences in androgens during early development. Girls exposed to high levels of androgen prenatally, because of the genetic disorder congenital adrenal hyperplasia, show increased male-typical play, suggesting similar hormonal influences on human development, at least in females. Here, we report that fetal testosterone measured from amniotic fluid relates positively to male-typical scores on a standardized questionnaire measure of sex-typical play in both boys and girls. These results show, for the first time, a link between fetal testosterone and the development of sex-typical play in children from the general population, and are the first data linking high levels of prenatal testosterone to increased male-typical play behavior in boys.
In 3 studies (respective Ns = 289, 394, and 1,678), males and females were assessed on Big Five traits, masculine instrumentality (M), feminine expressiveness (F), gender diagnosticity (GD), and RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) vocational interest scales. Factor analyses of RIASEC scores consistently showed evidence for D.J. Prediger's (1982) People-Things and Ideas-Data dimensions, and participants' factor scores on these dimensions were computed. In all studies Big Five Openness was related to Ideas-Data but not to People-Things. Gender was strongly related to People-Things but not to Ideas-Data. Within each sex, GD correlated strongly with People-Things but not with Ideas-Data. M, F, and Big Five measures other than Openness tended not to correlate strongly with RIASEC scales or dimensions. The results suggest that gender and gender-related individual differences within the sexes are strongly linked to the People-Things dimension of vocational interests.
The goal of this study was to examine the relation of early androgen exposure to sex-typed activities and interests in adolescence. Participants aged 9-19 years included 24 girls and 18 boys with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and 16 unaffected sisters and 24 unaffected brothers who served as controls. Using standardized questionnaires, adolescents reported on their participation in sex-typed activities and interest in sex-typed occupations, and parents reported on the adolescents' activities. As hypothesized, girls with CAH showed sex-atypical preferences: increased interest in male-typical activities and careers and reduced interest in female-typical activities and careers compared to the unexposed control girls. These results extend findings of sex-atypical play in young girls with CAH and suggest that the sex-atypical activities and interests of females with CAH reflect direct effects of androgens on the developing brain rather than social responses to virilized genitalia. These results also suggest that population sex differences in activities and interests arise in part from sex differences in early androgens.
Reported is the 20-year follow-up of 1,975 mathematically gifted adolescents (top 1%) whose assessments at age 12 to 14 revealed robust gender differences in mathematical reasoning ability. Both sexes became exceptional achievers and perceived themselves as such; they reported uniformly high levels of degree attainment and satisfaction with both their career direction and their overall success. The earlier sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability did predict differential educational and occupational outcomes. The observed differences also appeared to be a function of sex differences in preferences for (a) inorganic versus organic disciplines and (b) a career-focused versus more-balanced life. Because profile differences in abilities and preferences are longitudinally stable, males probably will remain more represented in some disciplines, whereas females are likely to remain more represented in others. These data have policy implications for higher education and the world of work.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) owing to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the most common cause of genital ambiguity in the newborn and is present in about 1 in 15,000 live births worldwide. The disease is further characterized in its classic salt-wasting form (approximately 75% of cases) by potentially lethal adrenal insufficiency. A non-salt-wasting form of classic CAH with 21-hydroxylase deficiency is also recognized by genital ambiguity in affected females and by signs of androgen excess in later childhood in males. Nonclassic CAH with 21-hydroxylase deficiency may be detected in 1% to 3% of populations and is often mistaken for idiopathic precocious pubarche in children or polycystic ovary syndrome in young women. This article presents an overview of clinical and genetic aspects of the various forms of CAH with 21-hydroxylase deficiency.
Leisure activities are widely used in research to predict important outcomes, but the existing studies use different classification schemes and apparently rely on the intuition of the researcher to classify activities. The goal of the current study was to use the Holland RIASEC personality system to empirically classify activities using a sample of older adults. Nine activity scales were identified. The correlation of these activity scales with the Holland system showed that they could be reliably classified; further, multidimensional scaling suggested that the pattern of relationship could be interpreted in terms of the RIASEC hexagon. The overall findings suggest that Holland's RIASEC system may offer a useful way to classify many activities.
There is now good evidence that human sex-typed behavior is influenced by sex hormones that are present during prenatal development, confirming studies in other mammalian species. Most of the evidence comes from clinical populations, in which prenatal hormone exposure is atypical for a person's sex, but there is increasing evidence from the normal population for the importance of prenatal hormones. In this paper, we briefly review the evidence, focusing attention on the methods used to study behavioral effects of prenatal hormones. We discuss the promises and pitfalls of various types of studies, including those using clinical populations (concentrating on those most commonly studied, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, androgen insensitivity syndrome, ablatio penis, and cloacal exstrophy), direct measures of hormones in the general population (assayed through umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid, and maternal serum during pregnancy), and indirect measures of hormones in the general population (inferred from intrauterine position and biomarkers such as otoacoustic emissions, finger length ratios, and dermatoglyphic asymmetries). We conclude with suggestions for interpreting and conducting studies of the behavioral effects of prenatal hormones.
Prenatal-onset classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in 46,XX individuals is associated with variable masculinization/defeminization of the genitalia and of behavior, presumably both due to excess prenatal androgen production. The purpose of the current study was threefold: (1) to extend the gender-behavioral investigation to the mildest subtype of 46,XX CAH, the non-classical (NC) variant, (2) to replicate previous findings on moderate and severe variants of 46,XX CAH using a battery of diversely constructed assessment instruments, and (3) to evaluate the utility of the chosen assessment instruments for this area of work. We studied 63 women with classical CAH (42 with the salt wasting [SW] and 21 with the simple virilizing [SV] variant), 82 women with the NC variant, and 24 related non-CAH sisters and female cousins as controls (COS). NC women showed a few signs of gender shifts in the expected direction, SV women were intermediate, and SW women most severely affected. In terms of gender identity, two SW women were gender-dysphoric, and a third had changed to male in adulthood. All others identified as women. We conclude that behavioral masculinization/defeminization is pronounced in SW-CAH women, slight but still clearly demonstrable in SV women, and probable, but still in need of replication in NC women. There continues a need for improved instruments for gender assessment.
This study examined the cues hypothesis, which holds that situational cues, such as a setting's features and organization, can make potential targets vulnerable to social identity threat. Objective and subjective measures of identity threat were collected from male and female math, science, and engineering (MSE) majors who watched an MSE conference video depicting either an unbalanced ratio of men to women or a balanced ratio. Women who viewed the unbalanced video exhibited more cognitive and physiological vigilance, and reported a lower sense of belonging and less desire to participate in the conference, than did women who viewed the gender-balanced video. Men were unaffected by this situational cue. The implications for understanding vulnerability to social identity threat, particularly among women in MSE settings, are discussed.
Why Aren't More Women in Science? Top Researchers Debate the Evidence Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings
- S J Ceci
- W M Williams
Ceci, S.J., Williams, W.M., 2007. Why Aren't More Women in Science? Top Researchers Debate the Evidence. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. Cohen-Bendahan, C.C.C., van de Beek, C., Berenbaum, S.A., 2005. Prenatal sex hormone effects on child and adult sex-typed behavior: methods and findings. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 29, 353–384.
Assessment of interests Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work
- J C Hansen
Hansen, J.C., 2005. Assessment of interests. In: Brown, S.D., Lent, R.W. (Eds.), Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 281–304.
Top researchers debate the evidence Why aren't more women in science
- Sj Ceci
- Wm Williams
Ceci, SJ.; Williams, WM. Top researchers debate the evidence. Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association; 2007. Why aren't more women in science?.
Strong Interest Inventory applications and technical guide
- Lw Harmon
- Jc Hansen
- Fh Borgen
- Al Hammer
Harmon, LW.; Hansen, JC.; Borgen, FH.; Hammer, AL. Strong Interest Inventory applications and
technical guide. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; 1994.