It’s what comes naturally, according to the author of “The ‘Bitch’ Evolved: Why Girls Are So Cruel to Each Other,” posted at ScientificAmerican.com. He notes a pattern that is probably not news to most readers:
While teenage boys and young male adults are more prone to engage in direct aggression, which includes physical acts of violence such as hitting, punching and kicking, females, in comparison, exhibit pronounced social aggression ….
“Social aggression” — ah, what stories lurk behind that coy term. You should read the article for the full story. The author’s take on things (from the evolutionary perspective — he’s a scientist) is that the physical aggression of the boys is their way of competing (with other boys) for the girls, while the social aggression of the girls is their way of undermining the chances of other girls (rivals) with the boys. The difference is that everyone notices when boys fight, but only females notice this incessant social warfare.
In a post a couple of years ago, “Essential Differences,” I reviewed a book that took a different perspective on differences in male-female psychology but which agreed that many of the differences are by “nature” rather than by “nurture.” That doesn’t make those different characteristics either good or bad, of course, but it certainly does make one think a little harder about how we structure our institutions (school, work, church) and how we evaluate the conduct of others.
posted May 29, 2009 at 5:15 pm
This is interesting Dave. However, I am not sure what we can infer regarding how we structure our institutions. Would you care to elaborate?
posted May 29, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Dave, thanks for this. My daughter is in 6th grade and starting to see this in big ways. I’ve been surprised how mean very young girls can be to each other. I’m scared.
(I can’t wait for the day your parentheses read “(from the evolutionary perspective — like all Mormons embrace)”)
posted May 29, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Thanks for the comments. Matt, I reflected on that a bit in the Essential Differences post, suggesting schools ought to make accommodations for the different learning styles of boys and girls … rather than punish the boys for not sitting still. There’s also the well-known problem that around 8th grade, suddenly girls stop participating in coed classrooms, an effect that goes away when they are in girls-only classes. From the SciAm post, one might reflect on the fact that boys get expelled from school for physical aggression. Maybe girls should get expelled for social aggression?
I’m not really making policy proposals here, just suggesting how institutions might start to take into account these facts of life (the differences in thinking and conduct). For a church example, consider how once upon a time Primary was held on a weekday afternoon after school and part of the program was running around and physical activities — great boy stuff. Now that it is on Sunday, it is mostly just sitting around reverently listening or singing — tough for a lot of boys.