If we look at the purely physical, in general we can say that there are some obvious differences between men and women.

Size, muscle strength, gravity and voice tone, hair, body fat arrangement, hormonal cycles… in all these aspects we can find differences typical of sexual dimorphism. In fact, even at the brain level we can find some differential aspects.

But… what happens when we talk about factors like intelligence? Are there differences in intelligence between men and women? Are people born with one sex more mentally capable than those of the other? This is a subject that has generated a lot of controversy for decades but that has also served to initiate very interesting avenues of research.

Remembering: what is intelligence?

In order to be able to see whether the intelligence of men and women differs or not, it is first necessary to remember what exactly we are talking about when we use the word “intelligence”.

Although there are several positions in this respect, in general intelligence is understood as that capacity or set of capacities which allows an efficient and functional adaptation to the environment in real time , correctly using the available resources and elaborating different strategies depending on the challenge or problem presented by the environment.

Thus, intelligence allows us to understand both ourselves and the different types of stimuli that surround us, organize our thinking, process information, reason, plan, inhibit or elaborate behaviors and procedures of action among other things. It is a vital element for the survival and functionality of human beings in nature and society.

Once intelligence has been defined in a generic way, let’s go back to the topic that gives the title to this article: are there significant differences in this capacity between men and women?

Men and women: different or equally smart?

Throughout history, this capacity or set of capacities has been measured through various assessment methods and mechanisms. One of the most widely used is the use of psychometric tests, which can measure both intelligence at a general level and sub-components of this or more specific abilities.

In the studies carried out regarding the differences between the sexes in terms of intellectual capacity, it has been found that on a general level there are no significant differences, with women and men being equally intelligent or, rather, not depending on the level of intelligence of the biological sex with which we were born.

Furthermore, although it has been seen that men’s brains are proportionally larger than women’s , it has been proven that the difference in size does not necessarily imply a difference in intelligence levels unless it is very pronounced.

Thus, both men and women are equally capable of adapting to the environment and establishing action plans, among many other options. However, when we observe the different capacities or sub-components that are part of what we call intelligence, we can see that there are some differences in specific aspects.

Differential aspects

Although in general we can say that men and women, as a group, have similar levels of intelligence so that neither of them is superior to the other in the overall calculation, the performance of different tests, exams and tasks reflect that there are some points or elements in which one sex is slightly superior.

It also highlights the existence of differences in how intelligence is distributed, being more variable in one case than in the other.

In them: slight superiority in mathematical and visuospatial skills

Logical-mathematical skills and especially visuospatial manipulation skills are elements in which males have generally scored higher than they do. Thus in tests of logic, calculation or space manipulation men tend to be better .

Graphic and visual material is usually better processed by men, and they are also usually slightly better at finding their way around in space.

In them: slight superiority in verbal and language skills

Women have shown in various tests that they generally have a greater command of the verbal sphere and language than their male counterparts. They are usually better at tasks that require association, understanding and expression . They also tend to take a little less time to encode the information received through language.

Linked to this fact we can observe that the female sex tends to have a higher level of emotion than the male sex. As a general rule women tend to express themselves more and be more conscious and expansive with their emotions, reflecting to a greater extent what, how and why they feel the way they do.

However, it is necessary to take into account that gender roles also interfere in this phenomenon, which among other things sanctions men who show a lot of emotion.

IC dispersion or homogeneity

It has been observed at a statistical level that although men and women have the same level of intelligence, understood as general mental capacity measurable by means of IQ, there are differences in how it is distributed among the population.

The data show that, in general, the female sex presents a lower dispersion in terms of IQ , while the male sex tends to be much more dispersed.

This means that although there are cases of intellectual disability and giftedness in women, as a rule their intelligence values are very much grouped around the average, and there is quite a lot of homogeneity at the level of the population.

As for men, most of them are also close to the average, but there are many more cases with extreme values both above and below the average than in women. In other words, there is much more intellectual disability and giftedness in men than in women.

Differences in the brain

At the neuroanatomical level, a series of small differences in intelligence by sex have been located that could help explain the divergences found at the experimental level. There are several parts of the brain that are statistically larger or smaller in one of the two sexes .

For example, the female sex generally has a higher proportion of white substance and a larger corpus callosum, which is linked to faster transmission of information between different hemispheres and structures. In addition, the limbic system, the part of the brain that generates emotions, tends to be somewhat larger.

As far as the male sex is concerned, his brain has a higher proportion of grey matter, which is responsible for processing the information once it has been sent from another part of the nervous system. In men there is also usually a larger hypothalamus.

However, we have to take into account that what we live and the way we act is not a unidirectional product of what we have in our brain, but that the brain will be affected and will develop, being influenced by environmental stimulation .

So, for example, if a person who is dedicated to music for years will end up developing and strengthening certain brain locations due to training. By this I mean that, apart from anatomical differences that are mainly due to genetically inherited sexual dimorphism, some of the differences found are mediated by education, cultural and social expectations, our roles and our experiences.

The role of education and gender roles

Although the differences found have often been linked to the sex of the people studied, the truth is that socio-cultural factors have a great impact on their explanation.

Thus, the differences found cannot be solely attributable to the fact of being a man or a woman, but also the effects caused by the different gender roles that each sex has been given must be considered. That is why research that crosses information about the differences between men and women with that related to different cultures is very relevant, because it allows for a better separation of genetics and gender roles.

Traditionally the role of the male has been that of protector, that hardworking and relentless being who must bring home the sustenance. Therefore, he must be strong and capable of facing the multiple problems that the environment poses for them by manipulating the physical environment. In the case of women, their traditional role has been that of giver of life, loving housewife who takes care of her children and dedicates herself to offering well-being at home and/or outside. These labels make us see that the traditional role of men has been more instrumental and that of women more emotional-relational .

Thus, throughout a large part of history each sex has been educated in pursuit of values and customs that perpetuate these roles on a greater or lesser scale. Since childhood, different abilities have been demanded from each other, which over time leads to differences in the way of organizing and seeing the world.

The fact that a large part of the differences are due to educational factors is easily visible if we consider the current situation: with the progressive increase in equality in education and the flexibilization and relaxation of gender roles we see more and more women dedicated to more technical issues and more and more men with a high level of expressiveness and emotion. With the passing of time it has been possible to observe that the differences are gradually diminishing .

Bibliographic references:

  • Bausela, E.; Colom, R. and Zara, M.J. (2004). The psychology of sex differences. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 429. Indivisa. Boletin de Estudios e Investigación [on line]: [Consultation date: 5 February 2017]. Available here.
  • Colom, R. & García, O. (2002). Sex differences in fluid intelligence among high school graduates. Personality and Individual Differences, 32 (3), 445 – 451.
  • Maccoby, E. E. & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.