So you think you know about
by John.E. Gibson
A highbrow has been denned as a man
who has found something more interest
ing than women. If this is true, then there
are a great many scientists who can't be
classified as highbrows. For recent studies
dealing with the ladies and what makes
them "tick" indicate that scientists are
trying just as hard to understand the
gentler sex as the rest of us men. At any
rate, whether you agree with one poet
who observed that "Woman is a miracle
of divine contradictions," or with another
who said, "What is woman? Only one of
nature's agreeable blunders," you'll be in
terested to learn some of science's more
provocative findings about her.
Do women really take longer to make
up their minds than men do?
Studies conducted at Johns Hopkins
University have shown that they do. And
another survey has shown that it takes a
man 5 to 10 minutes to buy a hat if he
goes shopping alone, 10 to IS minutes if
he goes with a girl friend, and 30 to 40
minutes if he goes with his wife.
Incidentally, science has discovered that
how quickly you make decisions whether
they be important or trivial, easy or diffi
cult reveals a great deal about your
character and personality. They have also
succeeded in debunking a number of popu
lar beliefs about this subject. For example,
the person who establishes a reputation
for making quick decisions is usually
thought of as self-confident, quick-thinking,
and self-assertive. Psychological tests
conducted at the University of California
show that the reverse is likely to be true,
and that the person who prides himself
on his quick decisions is apt to be highly
suggestible, lacking in self-assurance, and
seeking to impress others as well as him
self. The investigators found that, more
often than not, the individual who takes
his time in arriving at a decision stacks up
a great cfeal higher in the poise, confi
dence, and I. Q. department than the
quick -decider.
la a woman more likely to "go to
pieces" over an unhappy romance than
a man?
No. On the contrary, though women
tend to be more upset by little things,
studies show that they bear up under a
major emotional crisis far better than the
At what age is a woman most beautiful?
14
Family Weekly, July 3, 1959