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According to the results of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge, England, women would have more empathy and would therefore be better able to understand the emotions of others.
It is a serious scientific study which affirms it: women would have more empathy than men and are better at understanding the emotions of others.
A study based on a “theory of mind” test
This work, carried out by scientists from the University of Cambridge, England, is based on a test, called a “theory of mind” or “cognitive empathy” test. The researchers put together a large cohort, numbering 300,000 people from 57 different countries.
Then, the volunteers were all subjected to this test, which consists of evaluating an individual’s ability to interpret mental states that cannot be observed in others. This notably involves observing a series of photos of the looks of different people. The volunteers therefore had to read the eyes of the person photographed and deduce their state of mind.
Better results in women
The results obtained by the researchers are in favor of women. In 36 countries, women score higher than men. In 21 other countries, the results remain equivalent. An empathy that tends to grow in adolescence before diminishing in adulthood.
Men are never more empathetic than women. “Our results provide some of the first evidence that the well-known phenomenon – that women are on average more empathetic than men – is present in a wide range of countries around the world. Only by using very large datasets can we say this with confidence“explains Dr. David M. Greenberg, who participated in the study.
Good in your body, good in your head!
More studies are needed to understand better female empathy
The results of this study are unanimously geared towards women, regardless of their age, language or country. “This study clearly demonstrates a largely consistent gender difference across countries, languages and ages. This raises new questions for future research on social and biological factors that may contribute to the observed mean sex difference in cognitive empathy.concludes Dr Carrie Allison, Director of Applied Research at the University of Cambridge Autism Research Center and a member of the team that worked on this study.