Evolutionary Influences on Gender?
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Parental Investment - Clark and Hatfield, 1989

Supporting the possiblity of parental investment, Clark and Hatfield, 1989, carried out an experiment on an American college campus. A reasonably attractive member of the opposite sex would approach a student and state that they had noticed them around and found them very attractive. They would then ask one of three questions

• Would you go out with me?
• Would you like to come to my apartment?
• Would you sleep with me?

Whilst 3/4 of males agreed to sleep with the female, only a very small proportion of females agreed to sleep with the female.

Spatial and Linguistic Ability

Macoby and Jacklin's 1974 review of various tests found that men tend to perform better on visuo-spatial tests whilst women tend to perform better on linguistic and verbal tests.

Silverman et Al's 1991 cross-cultural test found the same results repeated across a variety of cultures. Siliverman and Eals (1992) study suggests that women are better at memorising spatial arrays, which is supposedly linked to memorising the location of food sources.

Other Notes in this Category

1. Bem - Gender Schema Theory
2. Bem - Sex Role Inventory and Spence - Personal Attributes Questionnaire
3. Evolutionary Influences on Gender?

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