Do men vary more than women in personality? A study in 51 cultures

Do men vary more than women in personality? Evolutionary, genetic, and cultural arguments suggest that hypothesis. In this study we tested it using 12,156 college student raters from 51 cultures who described a person they knew well on the 3rd-person version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. In most cultures, male targets varied more than female targets, and ratings by female informants varied more than ratings by male informants, which may explain why higher variances for men are not found in self-reports. Variances were higher in more developed, and effects of target sex were stronger in more individualistic societies. It seems that individualistic cultures enable a less restricted expression of personality, resulting in larger variances and particularly so among men.

► We studied effects of sex on the variances in personality descriptions.
► Informant reports of personality varied more for male than for female targets.
► Descriptions by female informants varied more than descriptions by male informants.
► Across 51 cultures, both effects were stronger in more individualistic societies.