The Difference Between Men and Women (again)

Ever since we were young children, we have been aware that boys (men) and girls (women) are different.

In my profession, you hear a lot about the difference between men and women in terms of investing behavior (men are bolder and take more risk, women are more nervous and take less risk). It's true that men will often, because of their bolder approach, make a few more investing mistakes than women, and women will often pass up better returns in favor of safety.

Well, it turns out that women and men have very different reactions to stress (and of course, none of us are experiencing that, lately). The common, universal belief was that the human reaction to stress is the famous "fight or flight" response. Hah! The studies leading to this conclusion were only done on males.

My friend Delia Fernandez (an advisor in Southern California) was preparing to give a speech to a women's group and dug up this interesting tidbit: About 10 years ago, a group of (women) researchers decided to study stress reactions in females. So they assembled a pack of female rats, and subjected them to stress (Delia did not tell me exactly how they stressed the lady rats). And, their reactions were completely different than male rats - rather than starting fights or huddling alone in the corner of the cage, the female rats sought out their friends and offspring, sharing a lot more affection and mutual grooming than usual, when they were experiencing the stress. The researchers, seeking an alternative terminology to the "fight or flight" description, dubbed this reaction "tend and befriend."

So, it's a normal reaction for a man to swear or hide out in his man-cave under stress, and ladies - that urge to call your girlfriends and go out for a pedicure when the going gets tough is your normal reaction to stress!