"Real" men don't like to go to the doctor...

...which is why we die younger than women, as reported by Agence France-Presse/Relaxnews, March 24, 2016:

A newly published American psychological study has set out to investigate whether male life expectancy -- which is shorter than female life expectancy by an average of five years -- could be affected by social and psychological factors like choice of doctor and honesty.

"Why do men die earlier than women?" That's the question Diana Sanchez, associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University in the USA and doctoral student Mary Himmelstein, set out to answer in a recent study published in the Preventive Medicine journal and the Journal of Health Psychology.

They found that men who had traditional beliefs about masculinity -- such as showing bravery, courage and emotional restraint -- were more likely to ignore their health problems or delay acting on them.

The pair studied a group of 250 men, who were given a questionnaire designed to gauge their ideas about manhood and their preferences when choosing a doctor.

The results showed that participants with the highest scores on the masculinity scale were more likely to choose a male doctor, assuming them to be more competent that their female counterparts.

The scientists then recruited 250 university students and gave them a similar questionnaire. Each participant was also interviewed about their health by male and female medical or nursing students.

Paradoxically, the higher they scored on the masculinity scale, the less likely they were to talk openly about their symptoms and current health problems with male doctors. "That's because they don't want to show weakness or dependence to another man, including a male doctor," explains Diana Sanchez.

Ironically, this same group of volunteers was found to be more honest about their medical symptoms with female doctors, the authors found.

The pair published similar findings in 2014 in the Journal of Health Psychology. The study showed that men with strong, traditional ideas about masculinity were less likely to seek medical help, and were more likely to downplay their symptoms and suffer worse health outcomes than women or men who did not share those values.

"Men can expect to die five years earlier than women, and physiological differences don't explain that difference," said Diana Sanchez.

Click on the links to see the abstracts of the original journal articles by Mary Himmelstein and Diana Sanchez:

Masculinity impediments: Internalized masculinity contributes to healthcare avoidance in men and women, Journal of Health Psychology, October 7, 2014

Masculinity in the doctor's office: Masculinity, gendered doctor preference and doctor–patient communication, Preventive Medicine, Volume 84, March 2016, Pages 34–40

Girls are different from boys in their texting habits...

...with resulting differences in school performance. Once again, psychologists treat every example of obvious differences between males and females as if they've made a profound discovery.

As reported in a press release from the American Psychological Association, October 5, 2015:

WASHINGTON - Teenage girls who compulsively text are more likely than their male counterparts to do worse academically, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

"It appears that it is the compulsive nature of texting, rather than sheer frequency, that is problematic," said lead researcher Kelly M. Lister-Landman, PhD, of Delaware County Community College. "Compulsive texting is more complex than frequency of texting. It involves trying and failing to cut back on texting, becoming defensive when challenged about the behavior, and feeling frustrated when one can't do it..."

...Girls do not text more frequently than do boys, but they appear to text for different purposes, Lister-Landman said. "Borrowing from what we know about Internet communication, prior research (e.g., Baron, 2004) has shown that boys use the Internet to convey information while girls use it for social interaction and to nurture relationships," she said. "Girls in this developmental stage also are more likely than boys to ruminate with others, or engage in obsessive, preoccupied thinking, across contexts. Therefore, it may be that the nature of the texts girls send and receive is more distracting, thus interfering with their academic adjustment."

Go here for full text of the original article.

Boys will be boys: Men are wired to be aggressive

Some scientists--at least the ones who came up with the study cited below--have apparently never experienced aggression in academia, and are therefore substituting a "review of the academic literature" for the experiences of a normal life. As reported by Nick Collins of the London Daily Telegraph, January 23, 2012:

The "male warrior" instinct means that men are programmed to be aggressive towards anyone they view as an outsider, a study claims.

In evolutionary terms an instinct for violence against others helped early men improve their status and gain more access to mates, but in modern terms this can translate into large-scale wars.

In contrast women are naturally equipped with a "tend and befriend" attitude which means they seek to resolve conflicts peacefully in order to protect their children, researchers said.

The study, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, is a review of evolutionary evidence for the so-called "male warrior hypothesis".

It claims that in every culture throughout history, men have been more likely than women to use violence when confronted by people they saw as outsiders.

The "tribal" attitude of men, ultimately aimed at boosting their chances of reproducing, is similar to the territorial behaviour of chimpanzees, it was claimed.

The study also examined evidence which suggests men have a stronger sense of group identity than women, and that they will develop closer ties with others in their group if they are in competition with rivals.

Although men's hostile responses most likely evolved to combat the threat from outsiders, they "might not be functional in modern times and are often counterproductive," experts said.

Over time this has resulted in full-scale wars between countries and empires, and also in scraps and skirmishes between rival groups of football supporters and urban gangs.

Prof Mark van Vugt, who led the study, said: "A solution to conflict, which is an all too common problem in societies today, remains elusive. One reason for this might be the difficulty we have in changing our mindset, which has evolved over thousands of years.

"Our review of the academic literature suggests that the human mind is shaped in a way that tends to perpetuate conflict with ‘outsiders’."

The original article, titled Evolution and the psychology of intergroup conflict: the male warrior hypothesis, is by Melissa M. McDonald, Carlos David Navarrete1, and Mark Van Vugt, and appears in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 367 (1589), March 5, 2012, pp. 670-679.

Science confirms what Jackie Gleason knew more than 50 years ago

Musical choices affect chances with women: study
Agence France-Presse June 19, 2010

French researchers have provided scientific backing to would-be seducers who instinctively know they have to swap rap or heavy metal for Marvin Gaye to improve their odds...

...At the end of their conversation, the young male used a standard pickup line. What swayed his chances of success was the music that had been played in the waiting room, the researchers found. When a "neutral" song was played, only 28 per cent of women responded positively.

But when the romantic ballad was played, his success rate nearly doubled, to 52 per cent.

Jackie Gleason was more than 50 years ahead of science when he released an album of instrumental music titled Music to Change Her Mind. Any of The Great One's albums will do just as well; or you can try The Many Moods of Murry Wilson (1967), which is now available on CD.
For those who like romantic singing to help accomplish their purposes, I recommend Nat King Cole, Roy Hamilton, and Frank Sinatra. If you're really adventurous, you might want to try the album You're My Girl (1958), with Jack Webb talking his way through a dozen romantic ballads. For those of us without anyone, there's Roy Orbison (and Mr. Sinatra when he's in a melancholy mood).

Female social scientists make astonishing discoveries about ogling

Female social scientists, having apparently never been ogled themselves, have difficulty understanding the behaviour in others. The women who never get ogled (such as the feminists mentioned in this article) are the ones who complain the most about being "objectified." The UWO professor is at the perfect campus to conduct such a study; I went to that university, and I found the women very oglable. Their taste in men, however, should be a subject for another study.

In experiments with more than 200 people, researchers discovered that when a female believes her body is being sized up by a male, she'll diminish her presence by speaking less. When a male believes a female is eyeing his physique, however, no such effect occurs.

The study, published this month in the journal Psychological Science, explains that our culture has so taught women that they're judged on appearance that they've come to evaluate themselves that way, ultimately self-objectifying.

Only a woman who has never attracted the interest of any men could come up with this howler (I laughed so hard when I read this, I almost needed medical attention):

Veronica I. Arreola, assistant director of the University of Chicago's Center for Research on Women and Gender, hopes this helps "dispel the myth that ogling women or staring at their chests should be seen as a compliment."

"Yes, we want to look nice and yes, we like to hear that we looked nice today," says Arreola. "But we also want to communicate our thoughts and ideas without wondering if someone is staring down our shirt."

That depends, of course, on whether there’s anything down the shirt worth looking at (or imagining). I have news for Ms. Arreola: Men are interested in what's inside the shirt, they're not interested in women's thoughts and ideas, and all the feminist indoctrination in the world isn't going to change that.

Meanwhile, this observation is positively Sherlockian:

"I'm often struck watching perfectly reasonable and attractive women hiding behind towels at the beach while men of all ages and sizes stroll up and down the beach smiling and looking happy in their skin," says Brennan, who studies gender equality.

"We don't teach men that they'll be judged on how their bodies look, and certainly there's much less emphasis on appearance in male socialization."

Another article on the same topic can be found here.

Women cry more often, longer, and more dramatically than men...

...with the possible exception of Johnnie Ray. I do have my doubts as to the validity of the "scientific" studies. If the data came from self-reporting, I suspect that the men may be inclined to lie. Roy Orbison was very popular for singing "crying" songs at a time when men weren't supposed to cry or admit that they did--and his following was largely red-blooded heterosexual men.

...German experts provided confirmation on Wednesday: women cry more often than men, for longer -- and in a more dramatic fashion.

Go here for the original German press release.

Could it be that men honk their horns at women because they're interested in them?

University of Alberta professors differ on why men beep their car horns at women
Car honking theories range from male aggression to competition for status
Sarah Malik, News Writer

Dr Michelle Meagher, a women’s studies professor at the University of Alberta, has formulated a theory as to why men blow their car horns at women. According to her, there is no question that this behavior— which she talks about in terms of aggression and desire—reveals how boys have been raised and the sort of fantasies they have developed about women.

"It has nothing to do with how men are hardwired," she said.

However, Dr Peter Hurd, a Psychology professor at the U of A who researches sex and aggression, emphasizes that men are more likely to honk at women when other men are around rather than when they’re alone.

"It is a dominance signal, a competition for status with other men," Hurd explained.

He further maintained that the role of the woman, who is treated merely as an object in such scenarios, is minimal and that the honking is not about her, but about the male peers.

Obviously, these professors need to get out more. If you saw the photo of Dr. Meagher that accompanied the article in the print edition of The Gateway, it would be easy to conclude that she probably hasn't been honked at by any men. On that point, I wonder if she actually conducted a study on this behaviour at all. It's highly unlikely that any such study could be conducted in Edmonton, since most of the city's women are fat, ugly, waddling slobs with butch haircuts, tattoos, and body piercings. In the words of Newman, "A more offensive spectacle I cannot recall."

"This behavior is part of a sliding scale," Meagher said. "It is related to other violent activities by men against women, such as physical violence."

This is typical of the misandrist drivel that "women's studies" serves up by the bagful. My mother has told me that when she was young, she and her friends took offense if men didn't honk and whistle at them. If Dr. Meagher were a woman, she'd feel the same way.

People in love use pet names for each other

Of course, if they start calling each other nasty names, this could be a sign that the relationship may be in trouble.

Terms of endearment make hearts grow fonder
Chris Zdeb, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Friday, February 08

Sweetie. Darling. Adonis. Baby Boy. Jam Tart. Words of love: pet names for people.

They're more than terms of endearment, says registered psychologist Helen Neufeld; they enhance a relationship...

Don't marry someone you can't stand

Of course, the sooner the relationship breaks up, the less time the partners will have to get on each other's nerves.

Marriage: It's Only Going to Get Worse
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 05 February 2008 02:19 pm ET

If your spouse already bugs you now, the future is bleak. New research suggests couples view one another as even more irritating and demanding the longer they are together...