Sex differences in the course of personality development: A meta-analysis.

Lawrence D. Cohn

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Ego Development and Educational Practices Personality Traits and Psychology Psychological Testing and Assessment

Abstract

Size and stability of sex differences in personality growth throughout adolescence and adulthood are examined. Studies using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test of ego development served as the primary source data. Sixty-five studies (encompassing more than 9,000 Ss) generated 113 independent effect sizes. Sex differences in ego development were moderately large among junior and senior high-school students (female advantage), declined significantly among college-age adults, and disappeared entirely among older men and women. Sex differences were relatively stable during early and middle adolescence. The greater maturity displayed by adolescent girls is not an artifact of superior verbal abilities. Sex differences in ego development were more than twice the magnitude of differences in vocabulary skills (Hyde & Linn, 1988). The present findings, together with findings from reviews of sex differences in moral judgment, aggression, and empathy, suggest that adolescent girls achieve developmental milestones earlier than boys, a difference that declines with age.

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References

1982In A Different Voice: Psychological Theory And Women's Development 1975The psychology of sex differences 2013Sex Differences in Social Behavior 1980Development in Judging Moral Issues 1986Gender and aggressive behavior: A meta-analytic review of the social psychological literature.1988Gender differences in verbal ability: A meta-analysis.1980The growth of interpersonal understanding : developmental and clinical analyses 1982Estimation of effect size from a series of independent experiments.

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