{
  "id": 7374817,
  "title": "Are gender differences really power differences? Large-scale analysis finds strong behavioral parallels",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/are-gender-differences-really-power-differences-large-scale-analysis",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-14T18:00:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/are-gender-differences-really-power-differences-large-scale-analysis-finds-strong-behavioral-parallels/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study indicates that behavioral differences between men and women may be more closely linked to differences in social power than to inherent biological factors. The research, published in PNAS Nexus, suggests that holding a position of high social power can lead to behaviors that mirror traits commonly associated with men, while low-power roles produce effects resembling traits often linked to women. This study builds on a long-standing debate in social sciences regarding the origins of gender differences, which range from evolutionary explanations based on natural selection to sociocultural theories focusing on societal structures and power dynamics. The concept of social power, understood as the control or perceived control over valuable resources, plays a central role in this analysis. Researchers from Columbia University, led by Adam D. Galinsky, aimed to determine if the behavioral effects observed in experiments manipulating power levels could correspond to known gender differences. To do so, they analyzed 270 experiments that randomly assigned participants to high-power or low-power roles, identifying 59 outcomes affected by power. These were then compared to 102 outcomes from meta-analyses of sex and gender differences. The researchers categorized the findings into four broad areas: agency (independence, assertiveness, and control), communion (social connection, empathy, and cooperation), self-evaluation (self-perception of abilities), and cognitive processes (attention, problem-solving, and spatial reasoning). The comparison revealed a 71% overlap between power effects and gender differences, with high-power individuals and men showing increased agency, positive self-evaluations, and certain cognitive processes. Conversely, low-power individuals and women demonstrated higher communion, indicating greater sensitivity to social connections and a tendency towards cooperation. This strong correlation between power dynamics and gender differences, particularly in agency and communion, suggests that social power may be the underlying factor driving many perceived gender differences rather than biological or cultural factors alone. However, the study acknowledges limitations, including the observational nature of the comparison between two distinct bodies of research and the potential for subjective bias in categorizing psychological traits. The researchers emphasize that while their findings highlight a clear direction of similarity between power and gender differences, they do not establish causation. Nonetheless, the research provides compelling evidence that social power dynamics may be a significant factor in shaping behavioral patterns typically attributed to gender.",
  "summary": "Could the behavioral gap between men and women just be a power gap? New research finds that placing people in powerful roles produces psychological changes that almost perfectly mimic traditional gender differences.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}