Sex differences: A study of the ear of the beholder.

lightning_palm · 2022-01-15T17:21:00+00:00

In this experiment we had male and female adults respond to an awakening infant. Although some [participants] were told they were tending a boy and others were told they were tending a girl, the infant's behavior was the same for all [participants] (in fact all heard the same tape recording). Thus, any differences in adult responses to the "baby" are solely attributable to the adults' attitudes and beliefs, and not to sex differences in infant behavior. […] We found that beliefs about gender differences in fragility did not account for our main finding that adult females responded [more] quickly to a fussing baby girl [than a fussing baby boy]. […] Therefore, contrary to our hypothesis, beliefs in sex-differential fragility did not account for the faster response to a crying girl by females. […] Overall, the males believed there are no sex differences in fragility, and their behavior toward a crying infant also showed no sex differences. Overall, the males responded as quickly to a crying "boy" as to a crying '"girl." This study demonstrates that there is sex-differential treatment of infants by nonparent females, but not by similar males.

Mean Response Time in Seconds by Male and Female Subjects to Awakening Infant

Attributed sex of infant	Male subjects	Female subjects	Total Sample
Boy	549.2	550.9	550.0
Girl	553.1	530.6	541.0
Combined	551.1	540.7

Title	Sex differences: A study of the ear of the beholder.
Author	lightning_palm
Upvotes	8
Comments	2
Date	January 15, 2022 5:20 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Male_Studies
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Male_Studies/comments/s4p638/sex_differences_a_study_of_the_ear_of_the_beholder/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Male_Studies/sex-differences-a-study-of-the-ear-of-the-beholder.1216058 https://theredarchive.com/post/1216058

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