ABSTRACT
The focus of gender research has recently begun to shift from documenting the existence and extent of gender differences to exploring the origin of those differences (Eagly, 1995). Numerous theories have been advanced to explain the documented gender differences in emotion, motivation, cognition, and social behavior. Prevalent in psychology are theories proposing that gender differences arise from and reflect status differences between men and women (e.g., Geis, 1993; Ridgeway & Diekema, 1992), arise from the different social roles that men and women have traditionally assumed (Eagly, 1987), and exist primarily in the context of social interaction (e.g., Deaux & Major, 1987; West & Zimmerman, 1991). Indeed, many developmental psychologists argue that to some extent children grow up in gender-segregated separate cultures in which different norms exist for social behavior. These different norms are then carried into adult social interaction (e.g., Hoffman, 1972; Maccoby, 1990; Maltz & Borker, 1982; Tannen, 1990).
