How Women's Cognitive Ability Stacks Up Against Men's

Even though women outnumber men in higher education and business, studies have shown that the average woman has weaker cognitive abilities than the average man. What are these differences, and how do they affect everyday life? Read on to learn more about this interesting subject, plus what you can do if you fall on the low side of the bell curve!

Gender Differences

Studies have shown that in some ways, women’s cognitive ability may be stronger than men’s. One way is emotional intelligence, the ability to recognize and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Both men and women were found to improve emotional intelligence over time; however, it was women who experienced a bigger jump in emotional intelligence from age 18 to age 29. Another difference between the sexes is work-related stress: according to research published by Michelle McQuaid et al., women are more likely than men to experience work-related stress—and this may be because they are more apt to put themselves into stressful situations or make decisions on their own behalf. Additionally, women are at greater risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after experiencing a traumatic event than men. PTSD can lead to other mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that the prevalence rate for PTSD among adult women is 5% while the prevalence rate among adult men is 3%. However, men are more likely to die following a traumatic event due to physical injury.

Physical Health

One of the advantages women have is that they are often in better physical health than men. This has been a result of different cultural expectations over time as well as medical treatment practices. For example, women often recover from illness more quickly, which is in part due to their bodies producing more female hormones and fewer male hormones. In terms of health in general, when comparing men and women of similar age and backgrounds, women generally live longer. This difference can be attributed to behavioral factors like smoking or drinking alcohol but there are also biological factors at play. For example, the hormone estrogen offers some protection against Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, it may be because women tend to engage in less risky behavior such as driving recklessly or abusing drugs than men do. They are also less likely to suffer from mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. These differences seem to make sense given how our society expects women to behave in contrast with how we expect men to behave. However, one area where this doesn't hold true is with eating disorders; people who identify as female are twice as likely than those who identify as male to suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.

Emotional Intelligence

Oftentimes in our society, we tend to define intelligence based on grades. We label people as either smart or dumb. Our measuring sticks only go so far, as they disregard emotional intelligence - the ability to recognize and understand emotions. These days, many mental health professionals are actually recommending some type of therapy for their patients because of the high rate of depression among young adults. It is believed that by recognizing and understanding emotions we will be able to better handle them. A recent study shows that while men have the intellectual advantage, women are better at both understanding other people's feelings and managing their own reactions. They also do a better job of regulating their moods and thinking about consequences before taking action. In this sense, cognitive ability stacks up much more favorably for women than it does for men. The reason for this may stem from a mixture of biology and socialization. Girls are often encouraged to be good listeners and talkers, whereas boys are encouraged to communicate what they know in order to prove themselves. Females' verbal abilities grow stronger throughout childhood, as opposed to males'.

One way you can see this phenomenon firsthand is with Google's 20% time. The program allows employees one day each week off from their regular responsibilities with no fixed agenda. Employees use these off-site days primarily for pet projects or personal interests like parenting (mostly females) and gardening (mostly males).