Differences between Men and Women

Differences between Men and Women

Several decades ago, some researchers believed that men and women are essentially the same when it comes to cognition and that what made them different is how they were treated by their parents and society. However, studies have found that no matter how they are treated, men and women have innate differences.

Physical
The physical aspects are some of the most obvious qualities that differentiate men and women. Here are a few of them:

Brain size
While women’s brains are 8 percent smaller than men’s, they have more interconnections. Consequently, women are better at situational thinking and looking at things as a whole. On the other hand, men are better at specific tasks, such as solving problems, and predicting patterns based on the spatial relationship of objects. (1)

Brain aging
Men’s brains age faster than women’s since they lose more of the cortex and they do so at a faster rate. In addition, as they age, the volume of grey matter in the male brain diminishes faster, which may be why men are more likely to develop neuropsychiatric disorders as they grow older. (2)

Composition of the retina
Men and women look at things differently, literally. This is because of the differences in the composition of their retinas.
Men have thicker retinas with more magnocellular cells, which are larger and are spread out across the retina. Magnocellular cells are involved in tracking the movement of objects.

Women have thinner retinas with more parvocellular cells, which are smaller and more concentrated around the center of the retina. Parvocellular cells are involved in identifying objects and analyzing their texture and color. (3)

Face shape
The sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen, determine the differences in the facial features of men and women.

Men who have high levels of testosterone in their systems tend to have stronger brows, cheekbones, and jaw lines. These qualities make men look more “masculine” and create features that are more angular and make the face look more square-shaped. The level of testosterone also determines how hairy a man will be.

Women who have high levels of estrogen in their systems tend to have wider faces, higher eyebrows, and fuller lips. These features make women look more “feminine” and usually result to heart-shaped faces. (4)

Mental
Most of the differences between men and women stem from the fact that their brains are wired differently. Knowing and understanding these differences could help lessen relational conflicts.