Men and women may be from the same planet after all. A US psychologist says there are not that many differences between the genders.

　　Janet Shibley-Hyde, women's studies specialist from the University of Wisconsin, says men and women are more similar than the popular perception.

　　She highlights studies showing similarities in personality, communication, and leadership.

　　But a UK psychologist said there were differences which should be recognized.

　　There is a popular perception that the psychological difference between men and women is substantial - as seen in books such as Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray.

　　And there are stereotypes , such as women being more emotional than men, or men having better spatial awareness.

　　But Dr Hyde, writing in American Psychologist, says her review of 46 meta-analyses conducted over the last 20 years, shows men and women are alike in the majority of areas.

　　The studies looked at cognitive abilities, verbal and nonverbal communication, social or psychological traits like aggression or leadership, psychological well-being like self-esteem.

　　Dr Hyde said gender differences accounted for either no or a very small effect for most of the psychological variables examined.

　　She said only throwing distance and physical aggression showed marked gender differences.

　　But Dr Nick Neave, a spokesman for the British Psychological Society and an expert in sex differences at the University of Northumbria, said men and women did differ.

　　"Scientists have been guilty of over-emphasising sex differences. There are differences. Ignoring them is foolish, and exaggerating them is dangerous. But that doesn't mean that society shouldn't treat the genders equally."

心理学家表示两性间并无那么多差异

　　男人和女人可能终究来自同一个星球。美国一位心理学家说两性之间并没有那么多差异。

　　威斯康新州立大学的女性研究专家珍妮特-谢博利-海德说男性和女性并不像大家所认为的差距那么大，其实他们很相近。

　　她强调说研究表明男人和女人在个性、交流和领导能力等方面非常接近。

　　但是，英国的一位心理学家说两性之间确实有很多差异，我们应该认识到这一点。

　　有一种流行的观点认为男人和女人心理上的差异很大，我们经常可以在一些书中看到这样的观点，其中比较有影响的是约翰·格雷创作的《男人来自火星，女人来自金星》。

　　还有一些传统的观点认为女人比男人更感性，而男人的空间感更强。

　　但是，海德博士在《美国心理学家》杂志上发表文章说，她研究了过去20年中进行的46次综合分析，结果表明男人和女人在大多数方面都非常相似。

　　这些分析研究分别针对人们的认知能力、语言和非语言交流、社会或心理特征(例如进攻性和领导能力)以及心理幸福感(例如自尊)。

　　海德博士认为，性别差异对研究中所观察的大多数心理变量没什么影响，或者影响非常小。

　　她说只有在投掷的距离和身体的攻击性方面能够体现出男女的不同。

　　但是英国心理学会发言人、诺桑比亚大学性别差异研究专家尼克-尼维博士却说男女确实有所不同。

　　“科学家们应该为过分强调性别差异负责任。差异确实存在，忽略差异是愚蠢的，夸大差异是危险的。但是，这并不意味着整个社会不应该平等的对待男人和女人。”

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