DIFFERENCES IN

BOYS AND GIRLS

COGNITIVE SKILLS
The largest and most consistent
gender differences are found in;
Verbal
Language
Certain spatial skills

For example:

Girls tend to produce words at

an earlier age, have a larger
vocabulary, and show a higher
level of language complexity.

Clear and consistent gender

differences favouring males exist
for some spatial skills such as
mental rotation (the ability to
visualize how an object would look
if you viewed it from a different
angle).

SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND PERSONALITY TRAITS

BOYS

GIRLS

more active and aggressive

more emotional and helpful

are more likely to engage in outdoor play,

rough play, and activities that cover large
areas of physical space

perform better on tasks involving

flexibility and fine-motor coordination

are more likely to handle a new object

physically

when left alone, they show less

exploration and greater attempts to
establish or maintain contact with
caregiver

when left alone, they are more likely to

explore objects and become more
independent

are more likely to use visual exploration

These two categories of behaviour differ by

whether they can hurt others: aggression is
directed against someone or something,
whereas assertiveness may be defined as
speaking up for oneself, being selfconfident.

Beginning at an
early age, boys
show more physical
aggression (such as
hitting & kicking)
than girls.

Boys also
show higher
levels of
assertiveness
than girls.

BUT, it is also
important to
remember that
aggression can take
different forms.

Girls are more likely

than boys to show
relational aggression.

Relational Aggression seeks to hurt others through social

means such as name-calling or exclusion.

Girls are more

likely to seek
and to receive
help than
boys.

Girls are
more easily
influenced
than boys.

Girls tend to use

verbal persuasion
or, if does not
work, simply to
stop their efforts
to influence other
person.

In late elementary school, girls

generally gain height at a more
rapid pace than boys, but in few
years, boys hit their growth spurt
and grow taller than girls.

The pelvic girdle of the female is much

broader than that of the male and does not
completely develop until the late twenties.

Other Sex Differences

1. Girls mature earlier than boys.
2. Boys are superior to girls in motor capacity.
3. Girls have better memory.
4. Boys do better in tests of originality.
5. Boys do better in reasoning tests, arithmetic computations,
and mechanical tests.
6. Girls are superior in aesthetic comparisons, drawing designs from
memory, and in linguistic ability.