I don’t know how to handle this Psychology question and need guidance.

There are two journals that we are asked to write and each journal should be a minimum of 5-7 sentences. we have to read the journal article first and then respond to the question.

As cultures change, sex differences should change as well—and this has indeed been the case. In 1960, only 35% of bachelor’s degrees, 32% of master’s degrees, and 11% of doctoral and professional degrees in the United States went to women. By 2015, women earned 57% of bachelor’s degrees, 60% of master’s degrees, and 52% of doctoral and professional degrees (Digest of Education Statistics, 2016). In the 1800s, many believed that women did not have the “constitution” to work as doctors or lawyers; in other words, people thought women’s personalities were too soft and agreeable for such professions. However, these past restrictions on women’s employment were clearly culturally rooted and not biologically based.

Men’s gender roles have also shifted. For example, men have entered traditionally female professions such as nurse, airline flight attendant, and elementary school teacher. Family roles have also shifted considerably: The time fathers spend caring for children has tripled since the 1960s (Sayer et al., 2004). My (J.M.T.) uncle, born in the 1930s, had three children but bragged he had never changed a diaper—virtually unthinkable for a father today. We don’t know yet what effect this has had on men’s personalities, but it’s clearly more acceptable now for men to freely express caring traits Some cross-cultural studies also report lower or nonexistent sex differences in countries with more gender equality. For example, men are generally better than women at mentally rotating objects, known as

Modern, individualistic cultures do not always mean fewer sex differences, however. Three studies find larger sex differences in personality traits in more individualistic and industrialized nations (Costa et al., 2001; McCrae & Terracciano, 2005a; Schmitt et al., 2008). Perhaps people in traditional cultures are comparing themselves only to those of the same sex, thus minimizing sex differences (Guimond et al., 2007). Schmitt and colleagues (2008) propose that in collectivistic cultures men are closer to the norm for women in industrialized nations—for example, higher in agreeableness—and this minimizes sex differences. They also argue that these findings are evidence against the idea that social roles influence sex differences in personality.

Where does this leave us? Some sex differences—such as men having a penis, having greater upper body strength, and being taller—are clearly biological in origin, primarily genetic. Some, such as clothing, some leisure interests, and perhaps math ability, are more rooted in culture. But most sex differences seem to be caused by a complex interaction of genetics, biology, social roles, and culture.

1. Consider behaviors or interests of yours that are typical for your sex. Can you remember learning them directly, or do you think you learned them indirectly? Or do you think they are instead rooted in biology?- Journal number 1

When Norah Vincent spent a year passing as a man, she had to learn how to walk differently, how to stop talking as much with her hands, and how to project male strength. She also learned how to smile less: On the cover of her book, she is smiling in her picture as a woman and virtually expressionless while dressed as a man (Vincent, 2006). In fact, women do smile more than men (d = .63); only 26% of men smile more than the average woman. Women are also much more likely to show their emotions through facial expressions (d = 1.01) (Hall, 1984; LaFrance et al., 2003). This sex difference is apparently learned in late childhood: American boys and girls smile just as often in their elementary school pictures, but by sixth grade, girls smile significantly more than boys (Wondergem & Friedmeier, 2012).

Girls and women also cry more often than boys and men (Jellesma & Vingerhoets, 2012; Lombardo et al., 2001). At least in terms of emotional expression, the stereotype that women are more emotional than men is true (Brebner, 2003). However, men and women experience the same emotions at the same intensity. Male and female babies do not differ in how much they cry (Feldman et al., 1980), and the increase in heart rate after seeing emotional content is similar between men and women (Vrana & Rollock, 2002). That suggests the difference is rooted not in biology but in culture: It is culturally acceptable for women to cry, but not as much for men.

Men take up more space than women even apart from their greater height and weight—they sprawl over chairs, stretch out their arms, and sit with their legs spaced widely apart (online, people call it “manspreading” and post pictures of egregious offenders). The sex difference in such body expansiveness (taking up more space with your body) is large (d = 1.04), so only 16% of women expand their bodies as much as the average man (Hall, 1984). Men and women also walk differently. In one study, people easily guessed the sex of others who were walking in a dark room with small points of light attached to their joints (Kozlowski & Cutting, 1977). Physical abilities such as throw velocity and grip strength also show large sex differences, with men outperforming women by considerable margins (d = 2.18 for throw velocity; Thomas & French, 1985).

And, of course, men and women dress differently. Once again, the story is that males must wear male clothes, but females have more latitude. Men wear suits with pants, but women can wear either pantsuits or suits with skirts, or a dress. Girls can go to school wearing a boys’ soccer outfit and no one will look twice—my (J.M.T.) daughter does sometimes—but a boy who went to school in a dress would be teased mercilessly.

Men and women differ not only in what they wear but in how much of it they own, how much they care about it, and how long they spend on their appearance. For example, college women own many more pairs of shoes than college men (16 versus 6, d = 1.64) and spend much more time on their appearance in the morning (25 minutes versus15 minutes, d = .72; Twenge, 1999). Are you above or below average for your sex on these gendered appearance behaviors?

2. Evaluate your own nonverbal behaviors in relation to your male and female friends. Are you typical or atypical of your gender in terms of dress, body expansiveness, and emotional expressiveness? Why do you think that is?- Journal number 2