Male and Female

[Athena]

Do females tend to take things more personally than males? What be good or bad about taking things personally?

 

 

How might an attraction between a male and female influence their behaviors?

[iNow]

Any differences will be unspecific to gender, and tied more closely to environment / upbringing / behavioral predisposition. However, the presence or absence of a Y chromosome will generally do very little to alter how one "takes things personally." It will impact hormones like testosterone that could ultimately change the way a person responds to a given interaction, but even then the upbringing of the individual will almost always drown out any minor gender differences there may be.

[jeskill]

When you say, "take things personally", what do you mean, exactly?

 

And are you trying to get at something specific with the second question?

[ewmon]

I'd say women take more personally comments about attractiveness, and men take more personally comments about performance. I think this is because these are critical factors in reproductive appeal. So, if someone says: "Hey Chris, I hope you didn't pay a lot for those shoes!", Chris will probably accept this barb a lot easier if Chris is a man than if Chris is a woman.

 

Generally, I'd say that males engage more in repartee, especially personal comments/insults, and they don't/shouldn't take it seriously. And, I've heard all sorts of ribbing between guys that's really funny, but would seem to have no humorous value on women.

[Genecks]

Any differences will be unspecific to gender, and tied more closely to environment / upbringing / behavioral predisposition. However, the presence or absence of a Y chromosome will generally do very little to alter how one "takes things personally." It will impact hormones like testosterone that could ultimately change the way a person responds to a given interaction, but even then the upbringing of the individual will almost always drown out any minor gender differences there may be.

 

I agree.

 

Also, a history of high emotional reactivity could lead to more situations with high emotional reactivity. Becomes a positive feedback cycle that spirals out of control. I think women are more prone to carrying around "baggage." As such, they may take things more personally. An individual with less baggage will take things less personally.

 

Anecdotal time...

 

From the women I've known... women who have low self-esteem (it can take time to notice this in some women) tend to take comments quite personally. This can be from performance, lifestyle, to looks. Commenting on their mentality or way of life furthermore upsets them. The best thing to do is be nice or say nothing at all. Really, that is a life lesson. I think a person who stays nice most of the time but makes one sharp comment can find themselves with an angry woman who becomes unforgiving. Surely, finding out if the woman has esteem issues is critical before ever making such comments (but really they are best held within).

 

As the baggage I find in a woman increases, my avoidance level increases. Positive correlation. r = 0.88. Yes, I'm being a nerd.

 

Men tend to care less about their looks but do care about their performance in life. They can have much of the same problems as women. I feel that men are more willing to take hits and shake it off than women.

 

I'm sure there are more serious social science studies on your topic, Athena.

Edited May 22, 2012 by Genecks