Are men and women really so different?

Monique Borgerhoff Mulder

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2003.11.002

Are men and women really so different?

Trends Ecol Evol. 2004 Jan;19(1):3-6. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2003.11.002.

Author

Monique Borgerhoff Mulder¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Anthropology, Graduate Group in Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA. mborgerhoffmulder@ucdavis.edu

PMID: 16701216
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2003.11.002

Abstract

Distinct differences in the behaviour and preferences of men and women have conventionally been attributed to Trivers' powerful insights regarding the impact of parental investment on sexual selection and mating systems. This has spawned a huge literature about the evolutionary significance of human sex differences. But are men and women really so different? An elegant new study shows that men and women are strikingly similar in their mate preferences. Have conventional models blinded us to the obvious, and precluded the posing of far more interesting questions?