Are Men Really From Mars and Women From Venus?

Do you remember the famous books of Dr. John Gray, read by all the protagonists of many romantic comedies, arguing that the difference between men and women is a natural state? Are we really as different as we look?

I think this question comes to mind for every man who watches his partner go crazy over him when he doesn't put the dishes in the dishwasher properly again or every woman who deals with a man who faithfully reads the instructions for every gadget that comes into the house. 

Psychological research has confirmed for years that men and women are different from each other. If in the 1980s, it was claimed that both sexes were cognitively the same when born and that parents and society were the ones raising the children. However, psychologists have proven over the years that the biological factor influencing differences is not null. It has been shown that certain biochemical processes are characteristic of a particular sex and affect an individual's behavior. Three more understandable differences for us mortals are the differences in synaptic patterns, the amygdala, and the cerebral cortex, but it's much more complicated than I wrote. Since these tests were done on rats, it is difficult to say they are the same in humans. 

Differences in neurochemistry, on the other hand, were demonstrated in both humans and rodents. Thus, they have proven that female and male biomolecules are transmitted and processed differently. One group of many affected are catecholamines, which include the hormones dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. The latter proved that women are much more dependent on it than men when it comes to forming long-term emotional memory. Another biomolecule that can work differently for both sexes is serotonin, a hormone that affects various processes such as mood, reward, and attention. The third major group is opioids, which play their role in stress response and reproduction. Opioids in women have a higher binding potential in the amygdala, thalamus, and cerebellum than in men. After menopause, however, the process turns around. 

At all of the above, the fact that we can even talk about biological differences between the sexes is the fault of the gonads. They determine sex and sex differences. The determination of sex is in the domain of genes (testicles and ovaries), while differences between the sexes are determined by the hormones of the sex glands (reproductive organs, the form of the genitals…). Until recently, it was believed that sex is determined only by hormones and later found that also chromosomes or genes on sex chromosomes, which directly affect the brain, determine the development and behavior of each sex.

It has been proven that men spend a long time rethinking the same thing in their heads and are better at judging angular orientation and navigating in cardinal directions. On the other hand, women speak much more fluently and better remember where things are, and on the orientation march, they would be pure winners if they had to orient themselves by landmarks and objects. 

In one study in 2021, it was found that men make more extreme decisions. The consequences of this can be either negative or positive. This means that men found themselves at the extreme ends of the behavioral spectrum and acted either very altruistic or selfish; they trusted very much or did not trust at all; they were very dishonest or sincere. Because the research is fairly new and, above all. Psychologically, biology was not taken into account. This behavior was interpreted through evolution, as men would have to deviate from the norm for women to notice them, while this is not true in the opposite direction. Others argue that male behavior is conditioned socially.

We think differently, whether it is evolution, biology, society, character, or everything mixed together, which is probably right. Perhaps the main culprit is really living on other planets, always dependent on each other.