Test of a Biological Model for Explaining Sex Differences in Sociopolitical Ideology

Abstract

A biological model, proposed by Dearden, explaining ideological differences between males and females was tested using 772 Swedish high school students (375 females and 397 males). The model postulates that aggresivity is partly a function of the interaction between gender and frequency of physical punishment or degree of agonistic contact with parents. This hypothesis was tested by examining the relationship between punitive attitudes on the one hand and gender and degree of experienced parental strictness on the other. Although males were more punitive than females and punitiveness increased as a function of experienced parental strictness, no interaction between gender and parental strictness could be found. Thus, this biological model was not confirmed.