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Speaking power to sex in Auckland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

N. Patrick Peritore
N. Patrick Peritore*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA peritorep@missouri.edu
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Abstract

Background.

Sex-specific differences in attitudes and behaviors, arising from a division of human nature into male and female types, have been core findings of evolutionary psychology and are now among its key investigational presumptions. These differences have largely been ignored by mainstream political and social theories.

Method.

I explored one potential path toward incorporation, using “Q” methodology to test for male-female differences in attitudes toward social power. A 33-factor survey was administered confidentially and in single-blinded fashion to 26 participants, 8 adult males and 18 adult females in Auckland, New Zealand. Nine élite participants were recruited from among wealthy families and the executive staffs of prominent businesses, while 17 non-élite participants were recruited from among the personal networks of university students.

Results.

957 acts of subjective prioritization were available for analysis. Sex-specific strategies consistent with the maximization of reproductive success through hypergamous marriage were significantly more pronounced among the non-élites, male and female, than among the élites. Culture-associated behaviors and ideologies were significantly more pronounced among élites, male and female, than among the non-élites.

Conclusion.

Shared élite male-female interest in social control and hierarchy maintenance may affect mating strategies sufficiently to obscure more expected sex-specific differences in attitudes and behaviors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , March 2004 , pp. 49 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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