研究：男性更有决断力 女性思维更开阔

　　It will come as no surprise to any man who has waited for his wife to choose what to wear for a night out。

　　But scientists have now proved that women are the less decisive sex。

　　While, of course, the tendency is not always a helpful one, thestudy found that men are more likely to leap to ‘black-or-white’judgments。

　　Women, on the other hand, tend to be open minded and ‘see more shades of grey’。

　　In the study, more than 100 people were asked whether each of 50objects fitted partially, fully or not at all into categories。

　　Women were 23 per cent more likely to select the ‘partial’ option。

　　Their ‘indecisive’ responses were to questions likely to stimulatedebate, such as ‘Is paint a tool?’ or ‘Is a tomato a fruit?’

　　Most men were happy to decide, for example, that a tomato is eithera fruit or not, while women say it can ‘sort of’ belong in the fruitcategory。

　　Researcher Dr Zachary Estes, of Warwick University, said: ‘Ofcourse, simply because we have found a significant sex difference in howmen and women categorise does not mean that one method is intrinsicallybetter than the other。

　　‘For instance, male doctors may be more likely to quickly and confidently diagnose a set of symptoms as a disease。

　　‘Although this brings great advantages in treating diseases early,it obviously has massive disadvantages if the diagnosis is actuallywrong. In many cases, a more open approach to categorising or diagnosingwould be more effective.’

　　In a conclusion that may explain why Lord Sugar is so at ease withhis role choosing which candidate to fire on his show The Apprentice, DrEstes added: ‘Men, it would seem, are more suited to occupationalenvironments that require decisive action whereas women are better atjobs where a considered approach is most important.’

　　Dr Estes said the gender difference is also consistent with women’s use of tentative language。

　　He said: ‘In general, women tend to use more tentative languagesuch as hedges, for example ‘sort of’ and disclaimers like I’m notsure.’

　　对于那些曾经因为妻子要挑选晚上出门穿的衣服而苦苦等待的男人来说，这一研究结果并不会让他们惊讶。

　　现在科学家已证实女人是比较不善于决断的那一方。

　　但是，男人的决断力并非总是有利的，研究发现，男性更可能做出“非黑即白”的绝对化的判断。

　　而女人的思维一般会更开阔，能“看到更多的灰色地带”。

　　在这项涵盖了100多人的研究中，研究人员让被调查者判断50种物体是“部分”、“完全”还是“完全不”符合既定的类别。

　　女性选择“部分符合”选项的可能性要高出23%。

　　她们对于一些容易引起争议的问题会做出“不确定”的反应，例如“颜料是一种工具吗？”，或“西红柿是一种水果吗？”。

　　在回答西红柿是不是水果这类问题时，大部分男性都很乐意给出确定答案，而女性会说西红柿“大概”属于水果类。

　　华威大学的研究人员扎克里?埃斯蒂斯博士说：“当然，我们不能仅仅因为在归类这方面发现两性的重大差异就认为其中一种思维方式就比另一种强。

　　“例如，男医生也许更能够快速、确定地对一系列病症做出诊断。

　　“尽管这非常有助于及早对疾病进行治疗，但是如果诊断错误的话，显然也会造成严重损害。在许多情况下，对于归类或诊断采用更开放的思维方式会更有效。”

　　这一结论也许可以解释为什么Lord Sugar在他的《学徒》真人秀中决定哪个候选人被解雇时可以如此得心应手。埃斯蒂斯博士说：“研究表明，男性会更适合需要做出决断性举动的职业环境，而女性更善于从事那些需要三思而后行的工作。”

　　埃斯蒂斯博士说，这一性别差异和女性喜欢运用不确定的语言也是相一致的。

　　他说：“总体来看，女性一般会用更多不确定的语言，说一些模棱两可的话，例如‘大概’和‘我不确定’等免责性的话。”