Sex Differences in Personality

Sex differences are differences associated with biological males or females. For example, males are on average taller than females, making height a statistically significant sex difference. To understand male psychology, we can look at certain clusters of personality traits often possessed at different levels by males and females. In reading the research on personality traits (see Lippa, 2005 for a great overview); it appears that three traits are more common in males than females:

(1) aggression (most types)
(2) higher-stakes risk-taking
(3) assertiveness

and these are less common in males than females:
(1) sociability
(2) harm-avoidance
(3) emotionality

Some of these traits that have been referred to as “agentic” or “instrumental,” (Bem, 1974) and are believed to have been adaptive for men and women throughout human evolution (Baumeister, 2010). There are a variety of theories of heritability of personality (Turkheimer, 2000), but it is important to note that research has also shown that socialization and culture can impact the expression of certain traits. This means that although there may be a disposition toward males and females possessing different levels of these traits, parenting, cultural influences, and the socialization process can determine their levels of expression and development of other characteristics.

Understanding Men Emotions

Understanding Emotions

As you have read in the masculine identity section, restricting emotions is a staple of traditional masculinity. This is also a central source of gender role conflict, since not having access to emotions, or processing them in healthy ways, can create a variety of negative consequences for people. The following is an overview about emotions, and some ideas on how to work with them in healthier ways.

Emotions 101
Emotions are essentially feeling states that have important and often complex information about our life experience. The English language limits the understanding of emotions since there are only a finite amount of words to identify these experiences. The actual human emotional experience does not fit nicely into boxes, and many emotional experiences are combinations of emotions that do not have names. However, there are a variety of theories that attempt to identify what would be considered “primary” or “basic” emotions that are categories of feelings that all other emotions fall into.

Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the term used to describe how well someone understands and uses their emotions for healthy living. Overall, an emotionally intelligent person knows that emotions can be a signal to oneself, a motivator for action, a relationship monitor, and a signal to others. Asking yourself why your body experiences certain emotions can be one of the most powerful questions you can ask, since each will have a specific purpose. See the examples for the primary emotions below, again this is an incomplete description, since they can function in more nuanced ways for every person:

-ANGER: increase vigor during a competition, communicate displeasure, defend against attack
-SADNESS: recognize a loss or disruption, makes us to create meaning from life events
-FEAR: helps identify and respect a threat, avoid danger, and seek safety
-JOY: reinforces action and recognize positive outcomes

Processing Emotions
This model can be a framework for understanding the human emotional experience in five steps. Recent research on male emotional restrictiveness has encouraged use of this to understand the variety of levels that men can change their relationship to these feelings. It was originally developed by Kennedy-Moore & Watson.

1.Prereflexive Action: An event creates an automatic feeling that is due to a physiological change within the body.

2. Awareness: We become aware of the physical sensation. Problems arise when we ignore the feeling or deny its existence. Ask yourself: What am I feeling? What are the symptoms?

3. Labeling: We give a name to the feeling we are experiencing. Problems arise when we do not name them appropriately, or have an emotion vocabulary. Instead, we use words like “upset”, “bad”, or “weird”. To help, look at the above chart or emotions, name the one (or more) that you are having, and then rate how strong it is on a 1-10 scale.

4. Interpretation: We draw conclusions about what occurred to produce the feeling. Problems arise here when the cause is not acknowledged, there is a lack of attention to possible causes, or when there is a misattribution. When this is true, we say things like “I have no idea why I am feeling this way”, place the cause on something that doesn’t truly connect to the feeling, or blame another state, such as being “tired”. Ask yourself: What really caused the feeling?

5. Evaluation: We evaluate the feeling as being acceptable or unacceptable based on the situation, personal identity, personal history, and cultural expectations. Problems arise here when we view an emotion as unacceptable, or a reaction to something illegitimate. I promote the philosophy that all emotions are acceptable and valid signals of something that is happening, or are an understandable reaction to something.

6. Decision: We make a decision to take action in response to the cause of the feeling (such as expressing it, or doing something related to the perceived cause), tolerate the feeling without taking action, or seek relief from it by other methods (redirecting attention, artificially changing how we feel, using a defense mechanism, etc). Problems arise here when there are real or perceived limitations on expression, fear of “losing control”, a low tolerance for negative emotions, use of unhealthy coping strategies (substance use, avoidance, primitive defense mechanisms, etc), or lack of access to or education about healthy coping strategies or alternatives. Ask yourself: What would be a healthy way to cope with this emotion? What is the result of doing it?

Myths on Anger & Aggression
There are two common myths about anger and aggression that deserve mention. First, it is not true that men are more aggressive than women. Research shows us that the levels are the same, but the expression is different. On average, men are more likely to express their aggression through physical means (fighting, violence, etc), whereas women are more likely to act through “social aggression”, which is the work of damaging relationships.

Another myth is that “getting your aggression out” through some form of catharsis (punching something, intense weigh lifting, etc) can provide long term relief. For most people, this can provide a temporary release, but if the anger/aggression-provoking source is not tended to, then another build-up is inevitable.

In conclusion, I hope that therapists and anyone else reading this information can get started on helping yourself or someone else continue to experience and process emotions in ways that are positive and life affirming.

Screening and Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Screening and Early Detection

Regular screening tests (along with follow-up tests and treatment if diagnosed) reduce your chance of dying from breast cancer. After all, screening tests can find breast cancer early, when the chances of survival are highest. That’s why we fund local programs that provide screening tests in communities. So more people can have access to these valuable and important tools. But there are also things you can do to help improve your chances of early detection.

Know Your Normal

When other parts of your body look or feel different than they normally do, you notice. For example, if you see an unusual rash on your arm, or a worrisome change in a mole or have a toothache, you’re likely to visit your health care provider to check it out. The same should apply to any changes in your breasts. 

Understand The Warning Signs & Symptoms

Due to the use of regular mammography screening, most breast cancers in the U.S. are found at an early stage, before symptoms appear. However, not all breast cancers are found through mammography. The warning signs of breast cancer are not the same for all women. The most common symptoms are a change in the look or feel of the breast, a change in the look or feel of the nipple and nipple discharge. 

Follow Screening Recommendations

Regular breast cancer screening is important for all women, but even more so for those at higher risk. If you are at higher risk of breast cancer, you may need to be screened earlier and more often than other women. 

Physical differences in the brains of people

Researchers at Monash University have found physical differences in the brains of people who respond emotionally to others' feelings, compared to those who respond more rationally, in a study published in the journal NeuroImage.

The work, led by Robert Eres from the University's School of Psychological Sciences, pinpointed correlations between grey matter density and cognitive and affective empathy. The study looked at whether people who have more brain cells in certain areas of the brain are better at different types of empathy.

"People who are high on affective empathy are often those who get quite fearful when watching a scary movie, or start crying during a sad scene. Those who have high cognitive empathy are those who are more rational, for example a clinical psychologist counselling a client," Mr Eres said.

The researchers used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to examine the extent to which grey matter density in 176 participants predicted their scores on tests that rated their levels for cognitive empathy compared to affective -- or emotional -- empathy.

The results showed that people with high scores for affective empathy had greater grey matter density in the insula, a region found right in the 'middle' of the brain. Those who scored higher for cognitive empathy had greater density in the midcingulate cortex -- an area above the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain.

"Taken together, these results provide validation for empathy being a multi-component construct, suggesting that affective and cognitive empathy are differentially represented in brain morphometry as well as providing convergent evidence for empathy being represented by different neural and structural correlates," the study said.

The findings raise further questions about whether some kinds of empathy could be increased through training, or whether people can lose their capacity for empathy if they don't use it enough.

"Every day people use empathy with, and without, their knowledge to navigate the social world," said Mr Eres.

"We use it for communication, to build relationships, and consolidate our understanding of others."

However, the discovery also raises new questions -- like whether people could train themselves to be more empathic, and would those areas of the brain become larger if they did, or whether we can lose our ability to empathise if we don't use it enough.

"In the future we want to investigate causation by testing whether training people on empathy related tasks can lead to changes in these brain structures and investigate if damage to these brain structures, as a result of a stroke for example, can lead to empathy impairments," said Mr Eres.

The Economy Drivers of Kenya

As one walks around the estates and bus parks within the cities and town you captures images in you thoughts of such people going on with their live. they set road side businesses to try and make ends meet, they wake up before dawn and sleep way after night owl. they are in fact the economy drivers of every nation. we might argue that the main drivers are those in big companies but the fact remains that this people works way long hours and they make sure the save every little penny they get to assure their children are in school no matter what. the live a hand to mouth kind of a life. this do not deter them for trying day in day out whether the weather favors the or not. they are out there making it. Such provide an avenue for the people to learn that it takes ones determination to make it in life. Learn from them and be the best. Small maters makes the universe.

Amos Kamau

OF

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