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The research is good, but the article title is misleading; what they've shown is that females devote more mental activity to interpersonal relationships. Males
by araneae 17y ago
The research is good, but the article title is misleading; what they've shown is that females devote more mental activity to interpersonal relationships. Males are far more disengaged. This is consistent with other data. For instance, we know that women are better at reading social cues, prefer jobs where interpersonal relationships are central, enjoy CS classes more if programming is done with a partner, etc.
Perhaps the fact that women are so interested in interpersonal relationships explains partly why so few of them gravitate towards jobs in which one programs all day :).
- gruseom 17y agoYour comment prompted me to go back and double-check the article. You're right: the finding is simply that certain regions of the brain are more active in girls than boys when considering potential new social interactions. The "BFFs and packs" business was fabricated by the article writer. You could just as easily claim the opposite: girls are more interested in people, so they're interested in more people, so they're more likely to have many friends.