Sex and sexual orientation differences in empathizing-systemizing cognitive styles in China

a r t i c l e i n f o The present study examined sex and sexual orientation differences in empathizing–systemizing (E–S) in a Chinese sample of 239 heterosexual men, 266 heterosexual women, 492 gay men, and 430 lesbian women recruited via the Internet. Empathizing and systemizing were assessed using two different abbreviated 8-item scales derived from longer original scales. There was a significant sex difference in S, with heterosexual men scoring significantly higher on S than heterosexual women, but there was no significant sex difference in E. For men, there were significant sexual orientation differences in E and S. Heterosexual men scored significantly higher on S than gay men, and gay men scored significantly higher on E than heterosexual men. For women, there were no significant differences in E and S between heterosexual and lesbian women. The results indicate a cross-cultural consistency of sex differences in S, while suggesting that E is influenced by culture. In the past ten years, an increasing number of studies have focused on sex differences in the empathizing–systemizing (E–S) cognitive traits. Empathizing is defined as the drive to identify another person's mental state and to respond with the appropriate emotion (Baron-Cohen, 2003). The empathizer intuitively identifies how people are feeling and learns how to treat people with care and sensitivity. System-izing, on the other hand, is defined as the drive to analyze and construct rule-based systems score higher than men do on empathizing factors, while men score higher than women do on systemizing factors 2012). This E–S discrepancy describes an individual's dispositional cognitive style and differentiates between typical men and women Only two studies examined sex differences in empa-thy in Asia and provided mixed results (Kim & Lee, 2010; Wakabayashi et al., 2007). In a Japanese sample, women scored significantly higher on empathy than men (Wakabayashi et al., 2007). In a Korean sample, there was no significant sex difference in empathy (Kim & Lee, 2010). Only one study examined sex difference in systemizing in Asia (Japan; Wakabayashi et al., 2007). In this study, men from both student and community samples scored significantly higher on systemizing. These studies have confirmed that EQ and SQ show cross-cultural stability in Western countries, but studies in Asia are still lacking, and the few studies conducted in Asian countries provided mixed results. Their findings indicated that the EQ may be characterized by a lower stability and sensitivity for …