Compiled by | Wang Zhaoyu
Men generally have a stronger sense of direction and navigation skills than women, which may be attributed to their upbringing rather than an evolutionary trait, according to a study published on January 17th in the journal Royal Society Open Science.Past studies have found that men perform slightly better than women in spatial navigation tasks. Some researchers believe that this could be due to evolution - in prehistoric times, men would typically engage in long-distance hunting while women would usually stay closer to home. This may have put evolutionary pressure on men to improve their navigation skills.However, Justin Rhodes from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign suggests that if that were the case, these "directionally strong" genes would also be passed on to female offspring unless they are on the Y chromosome.Rhodes says, "A very obvious alternative explanation is culture, which plays a huge role in the experiences of men and women." For example, boys may receive more encouragement to play outdoors compared to girls, which can help them sharpen their navigation skills.To test this idea, Rhodes and his colleagues collected data from 21 species, including humans, and studied their spatial navigation abilities and average distance from home.The researchers found that in all species, males were better at navigation than females, despite the fact that in some species, such as the rusty crayfish and strawberry poison dart frog, females had larger ranges of habitat. This casts doubt on the possibility of natural selection because if that were the case, the gender with a larger range of activity would have better navigation skills.The results indicate that the difference in navigation skills between men and women may be due to cultural differences or as a byproduct of biological differences between males and females and between sexes in general. Rhodes suggests that, for example, hormonal differences may affect various traits as long as they do not interfere with reproduction, evolution does not care.In a previous study, men and women with similar upbringing had no difference in spatial navigation skills.Antoine Coutrot from the National Center for Scientific Research in France says, "The authors have demonstrated in a very comprehensive way that gender differences in spatial abilities are more likely acquired through culture and upbringing. Spatial ability is like any cognitive ability - the more you use it, the more you have."Related Paper Information:
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231532
The Beijing News (January 18, 2024, International Section)Editor | Zhao LuTypeset | Guo GangPlease scan the QR code below for 3 seconds to identify
