Sex Differences in the Big Five of Personality: Looking through the Attitudes toward Traits
Abstract
Gender differences in personality traits according to the “Big Five” model are reproduced consistently in various studies on different cultures. The reasons for these differences are usually explained in biological and social deterministic theories. The reflective component of personality traits also can serve as their explanation. For example, earlier (Shchebetenko, 2017) it was shown that gender differences in traits can be explained by reflective characteristic adaptations (RCA) – element of personality, which pertains to awareness and monitoring of one’s individual traits. This effect was stable for all traits except for neuroticism. In the present paper we studied to what extent this configuration of results is non-random and empirically reproducible. Nine hundred six people aged 17-25 took part in the study, 314 (34.7%) were male. Gender differences were found in agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness: all these traits were higher in women. The hierarchical regression analysis showed that men and women differed in an RCA, namely, in attitudes toward traits, which statistically eliminated gender differences in traits themselves. Such a result questions biological deterministic theories of gender differences in traits. Social strategies of conduct and upbringing of sexes can affect differential evaluation of traits by men and women. Neuroticism is the exception again: as in the previous research, gender differences in this trait were still salient even after controlling for attitude toward it. Probably, behavior of men and women is differed in the degree of manifestation of neuroticism, and these differences are not determined by the reflective appraisals of this trait.
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References
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