This is the ninth article in a series about similarities and differences between men and women.

Q: How do the differences between men and women complicate male/female relationships?

A: In a study by psychologist Dario Maestripieri and his colleagues, the study concluded men and women belong to different species. The following information, in an article by Agustin Fuentes, refutes that conclusion. Fuentes has a bachelors degree in zoology and advanced degrees in anthropology. He is a professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame.

In his critique of the study, Fuentes elucidates three main problems. First, gender and sex are used interchangeably and they are not interchangeable. Second, the evolved differences in women and men are not measured. Third, relevant anthropological and biological datasets are disregarded.

Fuentes points out sex and gender are different. Sex is the biological state measured by the content of chromosomes in addition to various physiological and developmental measurements. Gender, on the other hand, consists of the roles, perceptions and expectations that society has for the sexes.

The majority of societies have two genders on the masculinity-femininity spectrum. Some societies do have more. The two concepts are interrelated but not the same. People are born with a sex but acquire gender. Within societies, there is great diversity between individuals and sexes regarding how sex and gender interact in personality and behavior. Although there is a lot of literature about that subject, many researchers, whose only interest is definitive distinctions between women and men, choose to ignore that literature.

Measuring evolutionary differences in behavior within a species is difficult. There are at least two methodological approaches that are necessary to do that. First, the assessments have to be comparative with more than one population of the species of interest. Secondly, the traits for measurement have to be linked some way with the heritable elements of human physiology or behavior that have an effect on overall fitness. These traits must be assessed by measures that are both accessible and replicable among different populations in the species.

In their study, Del Giudici and associates used a large sample of questionnaires from mostly white, educated Americans. In relation to the global diversity present in culture structure, this sample from Del Giudici and associates is limited and is not a comparative, evolutionary sample of the species.

The data from the Del Giudici and associates assessments of 15 personality variables are laden with cultural meanings and contexts that are not easily transferable across societies in time and space. Moreover, these personality variables are difficult, or impossible, to connect quantitatively to all aspects of human physiology, neurology or other structured, identifiable targets for natural selection. Furthermore, their personality traits are not static traits, but are dynamic traits that are fluid over a persons lifetime.

When discussing evolved differences in behavior between females and males, no one can make a statement like, When it comes to personality, men and women belong to two different species, without stating the biological reality that men and women are the same species. There are not consistent differences in brains between the sexes.

There is considerable overlap in physiological function. Both sexes engage in sexual behavior in essentially the same patterns. The sexes also overlap extensively in most other behaviors. There are interesting re-occurring differences, especially in patterns of aggression and some physiological correlates of reproduction, body size and muscle density. Anthropological and biological studies consistently demonstrate dynamic flexibility and a complex biocultural context for human behavior. These studies are especially true for gender.

Del Giudici and associates and Maestripieri are countering Janet Shibley-Hydes gender similarities hypothesis because they believe men and women are more different than similar. There are many valid points of disagreement regarding Shibley-Hydes paper. Del Giudici and associates name a significant methodological point of contention, but fail to provide an assessment and analysis of the overall data and meta-analysis used by Shibley-Hyde.

Something about trying to prove men and women are different, or the same, makes people somewhat irrational. There are no clear or easy answers about why people do what they do. There also are no clear answers about why men and women have problems getting along sometimes. Those researchers who ignore that data about how men and women are similar and different and approach sex and gender from a one-dimensional approach are practicing poor science.

Augustin Fuentes is the scientist upon whom this article is based. He contends there is an enormous dataset about how men and women are similar and different that responsible scientists cannot ignore.

Next weeks article will discuss the aging process in men and women.

Judy Caprez is professor emeritus at Fort Hays State University.

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Men, women show similarities, differences - Hays Daily News