Different Friendship Styles For Boys And Girls: Study

TIME:

Pardon the sexism, but a question: Why are girls so girly?

For the better part of the past half-century, feminists, their opponents and armies of academics have debated the differences between men and women. Only in the past few years have scientists been able to use imaging technology to look inside men's and women's heads to investigate whether those stereotypical gender differences have roots in the brain. No concrete results have emerged from these studies yet, but now a new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of children offers at least one explanation for some common tween social behaviors: girls are hardwired to care about one-on-one relationships with their BFFs (best friends forever), while the brains of boys are more attuned to group dynamics and competition with other boys.

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[superstition]

"then we will have all females just some with penises"

The majority of homophobia in the USA is focused on effeminacy in men due to the worship of stereotypical masculinity. If so many people didn't like caddish behavior, then perhaps homophobia wouldn't be so rampant.

But, the article ignores the fact that there is a a lot of variation in the sexes, regardless of sexual orientation. There are plenty of heterosexual men who are interested in one-on-one interaction. In fact, there are plenty of guys who dislike hanging around with groups of men and prefer to spend time with a girlfriend or boyfriend.

Part of the issue is age. From what I've read, boys tend to be packish when they're young and then tend to move toward one-on-one pair bonding with women. In fact, Kinsey found that a large percentage of boys had same-sex sexual experiences in youth and then moved toward exclusive heterosexuality later as their involvement in their male-only peer group diminished in favor of increasing socialization with girls. Today's kids are vastly different in this regard. Due to increasing anxiety about gay identity, studies have found that the percentage of same-sex behavior among boys has plummeted since the 40s.

Evolutionary Psychology has its merits, but human behavior is not just a product of genes and hormones. Socialization starts early. One feminist found that by age 8 boys and girls are already exaggerating their voices to sound deeper and higher.

[superstition]

"From what I've read, boys tend to be packish when they're young and then tend to move toward one-on-one pair bonding with women."

And even when young, plenty of boys form one-on-one friendships with other boys. I've also seen plenty of packish behavior among girls.

[ThermoChemist]

IMO, another silly study..!

"...girls are hardwired to care about one-on-one relationships with their BFFs (best friends forever), while the brains of boys are more attuned to group dynamics and competition with other boys."

[I know it's a broad generalization, but] I attribute this to the human species being "hunter-gatherers".

Men are inherently more attuned to "group dynamics" from the early days of their existence as hunters (hunting in a pack). Women are inherently more attuned to "relationships" as they'd be the ones tending to children and the family settings; while the men were away hunting. They'd be forming close bonds to the other females doing the same in their particular societal setting (sharing info on raising children, cooking, etc.).

[ThePeacemakers]

Utter BS.

By age 8, children's heads are filled with so much gender non-sense...

Like to see how their "scans" look on infants, about age 1.

[peterg76]

Not that it isn't important and valuable to measure the behaviours scientifically, but I'm pretty sure this has been known for about 5000 years.

[TalkTalkTAlk]

Maybe they can develop a pill to make boys more interested in one on one relationships, the "anti-cad" pill we can call it, then we will have all females just some with penises