Research Summary

The main issues with regards to the question, why women are generally considered by society to be more compassionate and empathic than men are due to a mixture of neurologic and psychological factors as well as societal and social pressures and functions and the culture that exists at the time. The collection of articles and studies I have explored all point to the fact that this social phenomenon regarding women having a higher capacity for empathy than men do and most point to the fact that the environment that a young child is born into, both social and parental plays a huge role in impacting development for the rest of their lives. Thus the upbringing and early childhood treatment of boys and girls respectively play an enormous role in understanding why exactly women grow up to generally be more compassionate and understanding than men are. According to Michelle Brandt’s article, “Are Women More Comapsinate than men- What the Science Tells Us?” nurturing young children’s minds shapes their emotional maturity and state of mind for life. This fact means that when little boys are taught to be strong and parents neglect to check up on their feelings, they will internalize this behavior and be less inclined to share and even experience their emotions in comparison to girls. This is a huge factor that accounts for why generally women grow up to be more compassionate than men are. This is how environmental and social dynamics are pushed on all of us as children by society and our families and how these societal distinctions in the way boys and girls are treated and exp[ected to behave impact development and our capacity for compassion as adults. On the other hand, Elizabeth Simsdons’s article, “When Watching Others in Pain, Women’s Brains Show More Empathy,” illustrates the more psychological and scientific aspects that make women in society appear as and be pierced as being more compassionate than men. The study which the article provides portrays, important evidence for the fact that women are biologically more compassionate than men are. When put under brain scan bot MRI and CEIT the results point to the fact that women respond stronger when observing the pain and suffering of other people. Images of awful events such as car accidents or bullying and even sexual assault were shown to members of both sexes, randomly selected from a variety of ethnicities and age groups. In conclusion, while no test can be considered conclusive proof of women being more empathic than are men, the evidence strongly pointed in favor of that realization. For these reasons, if one is to comprehend the notion, why society perceives women as being by nature more empathic and compassionate to other peoples pain and suffering, it is vital to know and understand that the factors that shape this perception as being due to a critical combination of societal and social structures that have been in place for generations and a biological and physiological structure within all human beings.