Psychology News
A team of researchers at the University of Cambridge explored the gendered nature of cognitive empathy. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Study
The researchers analyzed data from 305,726 participants across 57 countries. They used the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test to measure the participants’ “theory of mind” or “cognitive empathy”.
The Findings
The results revealed that females are more empathetic than males. The former also appeared to be better in human social interaction and open communication than the latter.
One of the lead researchers, Dr. David M. Greenberg, elaborated: “Our results provide some of the first evidence that the well-known phenomenon—that females are on average more empathic than males—is present in a wide range of countries across the globe. It’s only by using very large data sets that we can say this with confidence.”
To Know More You May Refer To
Greenberg, D. M., Warrier, V., Abu-Akel, A., Allison, C., Gajos, K. Z., Reinecke, K., Rentfrow, P. J., Radecki, M. A., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2022). Sex and age differences in “theory of mind” across 57 countries using the English version of the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(1). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022385119