Sex differences in parietal lobe morphology: relationship to mental rotation performance

Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of the human brain have reported evidence for sexual dimorphism. In addition to sex differences in overall cerebral volume, differences in the proportion of gray matter (GM) to white matter (WM) volume have been observed, particularly in the parietal lobe. To our knowledge there have been no studies examining the relationship between the sex differences in parietal lobe structure and function. The parietal lobe is thought to be involved in spatial ability, and particularly involved in mental rotation. The purpose of this study is to examine whether sex differences in parietal lobe structure are present, and if present to relate these differences to performance on the mental rotations test (MRT). We found that women had proportionately greater gray matter volume in the parietal lobe compared to men, and this morphologic difference was disadvantageous for women in terms of performance on the MRT. In contrast, we found that men compared to women had proportionately greater parietal lobe surface area, and this morphologic difference was associated with a performance advantage for men on mental rotation. These findings support the possibility that the sexual dimorphism in the structure of the parietal lobe is a neurobiological substrate for the sex difference in performance on the mental rotations test.     

Stress,Sex Differences,and Coping Strategies Among College Students

The sources of stress (academics, financial, family, social, and daily hassles) and coping strategies (self-help, approach, accommodation, avoidance, and self-punishment) of 166 college students were examined. The relationship between sex, specific sources of stress, and coping strategies was also investigated. Students completed a stress assessment inventory and a stress coping inventory based on a 5-factor revised COPE model (Zuckerman and Gagne Journal of Research in Personality, 37:169–204, 2003). Results found that college women reported a higher overall level of stress and greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies than college men. College men and women also reported different coping strategies for different stressors; however the use of emotion-focused coping strategies dominated over problem-solving strategies for both men and women. These results have implications for designing stress reduction workshops that build on the existing adaptive emotion-focused strategies of college students.     

Sex differences in brain activity related to general and emotional intelligence

The study investigated gender differences in resting EEG (in three individually determined narrow alpha frequency bands) related to the level of general and emotional intelligence. Brain activity of males decreased with the level of general intelligence, whereas an opposite pattern of brain activity was observed in females. This difference was most pronounced in the upper-alpha band which is related to semantic memory processes. It was further found that highly intelligent males displayed greater decoupling of frontal brain areas, whereas highly intelligent females showed more coupling between frontal and parietal/occipital brain areas. Similar, but less significant differences were observed for the two area scores of strategic and experiential emotional intelligence. It appears that males and females have different resting EEG correlates of IQ.     

Organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior: Do males and females differ?

While there has been considerable research on gender differences in core task performance, gender differences in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) have been largely ignored. Gender-consistent roles of females as being supportive would lead to the prediction that females engage in more OCB and less CWB than males. Using meta-analytic data gathered across 395 samples, we found several (weak) gender differences in CWB but none in OCB. We explain null and weak relationships from the perspective of social role theory, especially regarding males' roles being career-focused.     

Sex differences in children's discrepant perceptions of peer acceptance

Sex differences in children's play patterns during middle childhood are thought to promote greater awareness of social acceptance among girls compared with boys. The present study posited that girls are more discerning of peer acceptance than are boys; however, these sex differences were predicted to vary depending on how discrepant perceptions were assessed (i.e., inaccuracy versus bias). Additional differences were expected if children perceived acceptance by same- versus opposite-sex peers. Participants were 912 third through fifth graders (420 girls and 492 boys). Consistent with predictions, boys were more inaccurate than girls, but only for perceived acceptance by same-sex peers. As expected, girls were more negatively biased than boys, but only for perceived acceptance by opposite-sex peers. Results did not support the hypothesis that boys have more positively biased perceptions of peer acceptance than girls. Overall, these findings raise important issues regarding the evaluation of children's discrepant self-perceptions of peer acceptance.     

The Development and Validation of a Personological Measure of Work Drive

Using six studies based on 23,823 individuals in diverse settings, we developed and validated a personality measure of Work Drive—a disposition to work long hours and extend oneself for one's job. The factor structure was confirmed in four settings. Work Drive was related to job performance showing incremental validity beyond cognitive aptitude and Big Five personality traits in five validation studies. It predicted academic performance at six different grade levels, even beyond Big Five traits. Construct validity was examined via work values, job involvement, normal personality scales, satisfaction measures, and cognitive ability. Little adverse impact was found. Occupational groups differed on Work Drive. Overall validity and areas of application were discussed.     

Pseudosex in Pseudotheology

John Beaumont has attempted to revitalize the official RomanCatholic position against the use of artificial contraceptionby reinvigorating the argument against such from natural law.Maintaining that sexual acts are essentially reproductive acts,he holds that the use of contraceptives by married couples reducesintercourse to the same moral level as homosexual acts. He furtherargues that acceptance of birth control has directly led tothe legitimization of homosexual acts in American society. However,his analysis fails to distinguish between historical connectionsbetween the various elements of the sexual revolution and deepmoral relationships. His dependency on the natural law traditionalso results in an impoverished theological vision, which failsto relate human sexuality and the unitive drive to the divineimage in mankind. Only an anthropology which takes account ofthe Holy Trinity as the paradigm for human being can adequatelyground sexuality. This theological context, which is suppliedin the Eastern Orthodox tradition, grounds human sexuality ininterpersonal communion in love. It finds in the unitive drivethe need to realize the fullness of humanity in this experienceof communion, which directly reflects the Trinitarian natureof God. From such a perspective, the moral equation of maritalacts to homosexual indulgences is revealed as a gross distortion.Furthermore, the moral gulf that Beaumont seeks to establishbetween natural family planning and the use of contraceptivescollapses, as does the usefulness of natural law tradition ingeneral to combat the secularization of human sexuality.     

Aggression and Sociometric Status among Peers: Do Gender and Type of Aggression Matter?

The connections between the use of different types of aggression (direct physical, direct verbal, and indirect) and sociometric status among same-sex and opposite-sex peers were studied. The subjects were 209 ninth-grade adolescents. Although an adolescent's aggression in general was related to being rejected by peers, a different picture emerged when the shared variance between types of aggression was controlled: The partial correlations showed that when the level of direct (physical and verbal) aggression was kept constant, increases in indirect aggression did not explain variance in peer rejection scores. On the contrary, the use of indirect aggression contributed (especially among boys) to social acceptance by peers. The direct (physical and verbal) forms of aggression were unrelated to adolescents' social acceptance scores. No clear differences were detected between girls' and boys' acceptance or rejection of their aggressive peers, despite the finding that boys seemed to tolerate indirect aggression better than girls did.