Empathizing and systemizing cognitive traits in the sciences and humanities

• Published in: Personality and individual differences Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 619 - 625
• Main Authors: Focquaert, Farah, Steven, Megan S., Wolford, George L., Colden, Albina, Gazzaniga, Michael S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Autism spectrum disorders; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition; Empathizing; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gender differences; Humanities; Personality. Affectivity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Sciences; Systemizing; Autism spectrum disorders; Humanities; Empathizing; Sciences; Systemizing; Cognition; Gender differences; Human; Sex; Empathy; Personality; Thaught subject; Interindividual comparison; Cognitive style
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2007.01.004

For several decades, cognitive research on personality and individual differences has focused on psychological traits other than general intelligence. Here we present data on empathizing and systemizing cognitive traits in science and humanities students. In view of existing data on autistic traits in scientists, we hypothesized that the science students would show higher systemizing than empathizing and that the humanities students would show the opposite pattern. Our findings suggest that individuals in the sciences possess a cognitive style that is more systemizing-driven than empathizing-driven, whereas individuals in humanities possess a cognitive style that is much more empathizing-driven than systemizing-driven. Both type of major and gender independently and highly significantly contribute to this effect. Within the sciences, the systemizing pattern is especially pronounced in engineering and physics. Men and women have been found previously to differ in their systemizing–empathizing cognitive style, with men being stronger in systemizing and women being stronger in empathizing. We find the same gender differences within each type of major.