Beyond politics: a candid evaluation of gender differences.

Gender, Nature, and Nurture (2nd ed.), by Richard A. Lippa. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005, 335 pp. Paper, $34.50.

Synthesizing more than a century's worth of research on gender differences into an engaging and thought-provoking book is by no means an easy task. Still, Richard A. Lippa produced a work of value to several different audiences. The book will stimulate the interest of upper division undergraduates enrolled in introductory gender courses and will provide graduate students with ideas of how to further contribute to this broad and dynamic field. In addition, this book will be an invaluable resource for researchers given Lippa's detailed literature review and willingness to address how personal worldviews can influence research agendas.

This revised edition includes an expanded account of sex-and gender-related individual differences across various domains of traits and behaviors. Included is coverage of recent research addressing both biological and social factors that may influence gender developmental aspects of gender including activity level, play styles, and peer preference; and an elaboration of how the study of gender differences can be applied to practical situations of everyday life. These additions serve to embellish an already exceptional book and to justify the purchase of the 2nd edition by researchers and educators.

Value to Undergraduates

From the start, Lippa strives to pique readers' interests by using a broad array of literary references germane to each chapter. Rather than offering a prototypical textbook, Lippa presents the reader with a story beginning with the origins of gender research and concluding with how gender differences affect current social problems. Interspersed with remarkable facts and humorous illustrations, it soon becomes evident that not only does Lippa have substantial knowledge in the field of gender but also that he has a passion for sharing it with others.

The first chapter concerns how one measures the size of gender differences. Despite its clarity, undergraduate students may struggle with this chapter as it refers to statistical methods typically not addressed in introductory statistic classes (e.g., Cohen's d). Still, an instructor could easily review the basic parameters of effect sizes to facilitate a greater understanding of the magnitude of sex and gender differences discussed. Perhaps the most valuable lesson students will gain from this chapter is that gender differences exist. Yet, the presence of differences in no way indicates the superiority of one sex over the other; thus diffusing one of the primary arguments against studying gender.

Later chapters addressing gender assessment, theories of gender differentiation, and social concerns are not reliant on statistical familiarity and may be more accessible to undergraduates. An instructor could easily structure discussions around each topic, delving into the more complicated details supporting each chapter to the extent the instructor feels appropriate for the class.

Bar none, the highlight of this book that certainly will ignite class discussion and debate is chapter 6, "Cross-Examinations." In this chapter, Lippa integrates the previous chapters by personifying "Nature" and "Nurture" and having them comically debate the etiology of gender development. Not only does this discussion illustrate the ongoing debates in the field of gender by using a point-counterpoint style but also it demonstrates the absurdity of arguing that gender is solely the result of one or the other.

Value to Graduate Students

This text would clearly be an asset to any professor teaching a graduate class on gender. The breadth of research topics covered in this book is an excellent starting point for any student considering conducting research in this field. For example, in chapter 2, Lippa provides a rich history of gender assessment beginning with Terman and Miles (1936) and concluding with Lippa's own novel approach to measuring masculinity and femininity, gender diagnosticity (Lippa & Connelly, 1990). By addressing the limitations of previous methodology (e.g., the inability to account for historical or cultural variability), he provides a framework for students attempting to conceptualize and quantify the nebulous construct of gender.

Equally as beneficial is the interdisciplinary nature of this text. Although the book is perhaps most appropriate for a psychology class, Lippa addresses topics that are of equal interest to students of family studies, sociology, biology, and justice or public policy studies. More important, rather than focusing on the ascendancy of one field over another, Lippa demonstrates how each discipline provides a unique contribution to the understanding of gender development. Most important, the author than integrates the research generated from these diverse perspectives into a single model of gender development that contextualizes the nonrecursive relationships among biological, social, and cognitive/behavioral factors.

Value to Researchers

Considering that the lack of common nomenclature in the field of gender can make for tedious literature searches, perhaps the greatest value of this book for researchers is the extensive reference section. This book provides an excellent starting point by providing key references across the multidisciplinary research on gender development.

Whereas the 2nd edition covers some of the most current research, it also includes numerous classical studies in need of a second look. By taking the initiative to revisit these historical pieces, researchers may gain alternate perspectives germane to current issues of gender research. In fact, the book documents much of Lippa's own research that resulted from reevaluating earlier methodologies to address contemporary research agendas. For instance, much of his research (e.g., Lippa, 1991; Lippa, 2002; Lippa & Connelly, 1990) focuses on assessing gender-related interests, a domain central to early researchers but one that was overshadowed by research on gender-related personality traits in the 1970's (e.g., Bern, 1974; Spence & Helmreich, 1978). By revisiting works that many may consider primitive or outmoded, Lippa reinstated a domain of gender that both captures a layperson's perspective of what constitutes gender (e.g., carpentry vs. fashion design) and that relates multiple facets of human development including sexual orientation, psychological adjustment, and mortality rates (Lippa, 1995; Lippa, Martin, & Friedman, 2000).

Conclusion

In summary, this text presents the science of gender in an engaging manner attractive to both novices and experts in the field. In an era in which so many books on gender are slanted with political undertones, it is refreshing to find a text that accurately represents both sides of the nature/nurture debate and then proposes a theory complementary to both perspectives. This is not to say that Lippa steers clear from the numerous controversies inherent to this field. Instead, he carefully articulates the strengths and critiques the shortfalls of each position, encouraging readers at any level to broaden their perspectives on gender development.

References

Bern, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155-162.

Lippa, R. A. (1991). Some psychometric characteristics of gender diagnosticity measures: Reliability, validity, consistency across domains and relationship to the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 1000-1011.

Lippa, R. A. (1995). Gender-related individual differences and psychological adjustment in terms of the big five and circumplex models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1184-1202.

Lippa, R. A. (2002). Gender-related traits of heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 77-92.

Lippa, R. A., & Connelly, S. C. (1990). Gender diagnosticity: A new Bayesian approach to gender-related individual differences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1051-1065.

Lippa, R. A., Martin, L. R., & Friedman, H. S. (2000). Gender-related individual differences and mortality in the Terman longitudinal study: Is masculinity hazardous to your health? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1560-1570.

Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity and femininity: Their psychological dimensions, correlates, and antecedents. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Terman, L. M., & Miles, C. C. (1936). Sex and personality: Studies in masculinity and femininity. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Reviewed by Tyson C. Kreiger, Department of Psychology in Education, PO Box 870611, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287. E-mail: [e-mail]