Why boys will be boys
( 30th April 2009), source: www.timesofindia.com)
Boys will be boys and girls will be girls, because gender-specific personality traits develop along typical lines, according to a new study.
Researchers from Penn State, Hawaii and Purdue universities looked at 200 families and collected information and saliva samples that measured the children's testosterone levels.
Not surprisingly, girls and boys differed in their sex-specific personality traits and their sex-typed activity interests in early adolescence, with girls showing higher levels of expressive traits (kindness and sensitivity) and interest in "feminine" activities (arts and reading). Boys showed higher levels of instrumental traits (independence and adventurousness) and interest in "masculine" activities.
Girls' typically feminine, expressive traits didn't change over time. Conversely, boys' sensitivity and warmth declined across middle childhood but increased in later adolescence.
This pattern meant that by the end of high school, boys had many more of these characteristics than girls, said a Penn State release.
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