Surprised? Maybe not, but in this largest study in nearly a century, the reasons why might be surprising.
“Understanding sex differences in empathy could help researchers better understand why certain mental health problems impact more men than women,” Jen Christensen, CNN writes.
This latest study could also help scientists develop better support for people who may struggle to read facial expressions, the researchers said.
“This study clearly demonstrates a largely consistent sex difference across countries, languages, and ages,” study co-author Carrie Allison, who is the director of applied research at the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University, said in a news release. “This raises new questions for future research about the social and biological factors that may contribute to the observed on-average sex difference in cognitive empathy.”