It’s a myth that baby boys are less social than girls – a new look at decades of research shows all babies are born to connect

Pulling together the results of 40 experiments done by different teams over decades, researchers found that infant boys and girls equally tune in to human faces and voices.

By: Lise Eliot, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: April 20, 2026

Words: 957

Last Updated: 3 months, 1 week ago

Body Text Preview

By Lise Eliot, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

Girls and boys are equally social at birth.

This finding, based on my team’s synthesis of six decades of research, may come as a surprise. Gender differences in adults’ social sensitivity are famous. Women outperform men at recognizing faces and emotions, and they score modestly higher on measures of empathy. They are likelier to take jobs working with people, such as …

Create a free account to access this story and more

Join Plucky Wire to access full stories, collaborate with newsrooms, and discover content from networks around the world.

About

FAQ

Email Us