Everyone knows boys and girls are different. I mean, we didn't all go to junior high for nothing. But how different is usually left for anatomical survey or subjective discussion.

A study by the researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health and Georgia State University recently tried to quantify the differences, looking at tweens and their social interactions. Perhaps the findings, that girls prefer one-on-one relationship and boys like groups isn't so surprising. But what caught my attention was this synopsis from TIME Magazine:

"Boys, it seems, aren't as interested as girls in one-on-one interactions. Previous research has shown that male adolescents instead become more focused on competition within larger groups like between sports teams). Perhaps it's evidence that evolution has programmed boys to compete within large groups, so they can learn to eliminate rivals for women — and that girls have been programmed to judge, one-on-one, who would be the most protective father for offspring."
(Source: http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#92EuL5/www.time.com/time/health/article/0,...)

I think the debate about the differences between males and females is interesting because we don't always know nature stops and nurture starts. How many of the differences between the sexes are because they're in our genes and how many because that's how we've been raised to think?

At the same time, I laugh at these studies because they don't really tell us anything we can't observe on our own - ask any single. And even more disappointing, they provide no advice to navigating the social waters and crossing the great divide. They just seem to say, "Genes or society? You can't help being what you are. Live with it."

Furthermore, the fact that we think we need these studies is proof enough of the differences between gender. I always imagine these studies start from a a few women sitting around with their girlfriends (BFFs) wondering aloud: "Why are guys so hard to understand?"

And they end with a bunch of guys, showering up after a game of touch football: "Who cares? Let's go meet some girls."