Certainly, at some point you wondered if happiness meant the same thing to a man and a woman. You’ve probably already argued with your friends about whether men and women have different ways of seeing the world or whether sex has anything to do with it.
The point is that when you investigate this topic you will find a lot of information, which in many cases is contradictory. Many wonder exactly what the articles on this topic are based on and why you can read things so contradictory to each other. Different samples?Different values?Different ways to treat happiness in each study?
- The truth is that most of the research on the subject is not as cautious as it should be in the presentation of the study and in the analysis of the data.
- Which makes the generalization of the authors’ conclusions taken with some caution.
- For example.
- Cristen Conger discusses how a survey conducted at the University of Pennsylvania simply asked participants to self-assess whether they were “very happy.
- ” “reasonably happy.
- ” or “not happy.
- “However.
- He did not raise a definition of happiness that people might have as a reference.
- Nor did he ask about the definition they used to give their answer.
When you compare multiple items like? And by making, so to speak, a reference list for each sex, we can see some similarities and differences, for example, according to these reports, to be happy, both sexes have given high priority to :
1) Marry and start a family
2) Appearance and physical condition.
In addition, men and women valued money, material goods, friends, sex, and power. Why, then, do so many people say that men and women see the world differently?
Some things weren’t on the list. Interestingly, these differences coincide with some studies comparing brain scans of men and women.
For example, expressions of love and affection accounted for 16% of things that make women happy, but do not appear on the men’s list. The article How Men’s and Women’s Brains Differ (in which women’s and men’s brains differ) is about a study in which brain imaging technology was used to monitor brain activity, both men and women, while listening to a soap opera.
The study found that men’s brains exhibited activity only in the left hemisphere, while women’s brains exhibited activity in both hemispheres, indicating that women have more language and communication skills, perhaps that’s why they like messages of affection and tenderness and appreciation more. the relationships in which they abound.
Unlike women, employment is an important source of happiness for men in general, this may be due to the fact that men at work use their skills to solve problems. Neuropsychiatry Dr. Louann Brizendine says that when a person expresses a conflict with a man, the part of the brain responsible for solving problems is quickly activated, while in a woman’s brain, the activated part of the brain is the part that shows empathy. In a professional environment, the ability to solve dilemmas is highly valued and rewarded; this may be why men tend to feel happier and more satisfied with their work.
These are just two of the many examples. The truth is that, while subtle, it seems that there really are differences between men and women, perhaps the Neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Ruben Gur, summed it up well by explaining that in reality the differences bring men and women closer. rather than alienating them. In his own words: “Most of these differences are complementary, increasing opportunities for women and men to come forward. Does it help some species?
This is certainly a controversial topic, open to research and debate, which in addition to simple curiosity, knowing and defining these differences can help, for example, better focus couple therapy or better adjust depression therapy.
Image courtesy of Dudarev Mikhail