Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
11-2011
Abstract
Although it is commonly believed that women are kinder and more cooperative than men, there is conflicting evidence for this assertion. Current theories of sex differences in social behavior suggest that it may be useful to examine in what situations men and women are likely to differ in cooperation. Here, we derive predictions from both sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives on context-specific sex differences in cooperation, and we conduct a unique meta-analytic study of 272 effect sizes—sampled across 50 years of research—on social dilemmas to examine several potential moderators. The overall average effect size is not statistically different from zero (d - 0.05), suggesting that men and women do not differ in their overall amounts of cooperation. However, the association between sex and cooperation is moderated by several key features of the social context: Male–male interactions are more cooperative than female–female interactions (d 0.16), yet women cooperate more than men in mixed-sex interactions (d - 0.22). In repeated interactions, men are more cooperative than women. Women were more cooperative than men in larger groups and in more recent studies, but these differences disappeared after statistically controlling for several study characteristics. We discuss these results in the context of both sociocultural and evolutionary theories of sex differences, stress the need for an integrated biosocial approach, and outline directions for future research.
Keywords
gender, sex differences, cooperation, social dilemmas, meta-analysis
Discipline
Social Psychology | Theory and Philosophy
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Psychological Bulletin
Volume
137
Issue
6
First Page
881
Last Page
909
ISSN
0033-2909
Identifier
10.1037/a0025354
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Citation
BALLIET, Daniel, LI, Norman P., Macfarlan, Shane J., & Van Vugt, Mark.(2011). Sex Differences in Cooperation: A Meta-analytic Review of Social Dilemmas. Psychological Bulletin, 137(6), 881-909.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1130
Copyright Owner and License
Publisher
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025354