Anybody with children of both sexes can attest to the fact that boys and girls are very different from one another. They mature at different paces, they act differently and they are interested in different things. The differences between boys and girls are not myths perpetrated by a sexist society--at least not entirely. There are some significant differences between the behavior of boys and girls.
Politeness and Honesty
ABC News and researcher Campbell Leaper of the University of California conducted a study in which they served male and female children lemonade made with salt instead of sugar. In general, the girls tried to choke it down, but the boys reacted differently. They told researchers that the lemonade needed sugar, and one even spit it out. ""Boys are allowed to talk back to their parents more than girls are, to assert their will more," Leaper said in explaining why the boys and girls reacted so differently.
Listening Skills
According an article on the Parenting website called "The Real Difference Between Boys and Girls" by Anita Sethi, Ph.D., little girls are better listeners than their male counterparts. "Recent research shows that girls are more attuned to the sound of human voices and seem to actually prefer the sound to other sounds," she says. "Shake a rattle and you'll see no difference between newborn girls and boys, but when you talk, the girls will be more likely to become engaged." When you talk to your little girl, she probably is listening. When you talk to your little boy, he might or might not be paying attention to what you are saying.
Fearlessness
Sethi also suggests that boys are much less fearful than girls. "According to a recent survey, the parents of boys ages 3 to 12 months were much less likely than the parents of girls the same age to report that the child startles in response to loud noises or stimuli," she says. As they get older, boys might be more likely to do things that girls their age might be more hesitant to do, such as climb a high tree or participate in a risky activity. As a result, parents often find that little boys need a bit more supervision than little girls.
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