ABSTRACT
In principle, the distinction between males and females does not necessarily suggest the existence of cognitive or intellectual differences leading to the assumption that one gender is better than the other. However, for various reasons, past research in this field has followed the underlying assumption that males are “better” than females, and most of the earlier data reflects this prejudice. With a research tradition starting at the beginning of the nineteenth century (Richardson, 1997), earlier data were collected so as to confirm the male superiority prejudice. A different approach appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century and, later, the book by Maccoby and Jacklin, published in 1974, was probably the first objective overview on this topic, following the social and political transformation of the 1960s.
