Gender differences in storytelling
Keywords:
Evolutionary Psychology, Gender Differences, Romance Novel, Pornography
Abstract
Charles Darwin was the first to argue that natural selection affects not only biological structures but also cognitive functions. Evolutionary psychology later showed how this influence involves every aspect of mental activity. The impact of selective pressures is also evident in the human capacity for storytelling. But not all narratives are the same. They, in fact, have different functions from both the individual and social perspectives. There is also an interesting gender difference in human storytelling capacity. Tracing and describing the gender differences present in narratives could be a starting point from which to highlight how the different sexual psychologies underlying our narrative instincts might influence the representation of women and men in the real world.
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Symons, Donald (1979), The Evolution of Human Sexuality, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Trivers, Robert (1972), Parental investment and sexual selection. Sexual Selection & the Descent of Man, Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 136-179.
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Barkow, Jerome H., Cosmides, Leda, & Tooby, John (Eds.) (1995), The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture, Oxford University Press.
Bribiescas, Richard G. (2006), Men: Evolutionary and life history, Harvard University Press.
Bruni, Domenica (2017), Psicologia evoluzionistica. Dal cervello del Pleistocene alla mente moderna, Roma, Carocci.
Bruni, Domenica (2010), Storia naturale dell’amore, Roma, Carocci.
Bruni, Domenica (2010b), «La psicologia evoluzionistica di fronte all'attrazione sessuale. Processi cognitivi naturalizzati nel modo sbagliato», in Sistemi intelligenti, n. 22(3), pp. 485-494.
Buss, David M. (2021), Bad Men: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Hachette UK, Harassment and Assault.
Buss, David M. (1989), «Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures», in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, n. 12, pp. 1-49.
Buss, David M. (1999), «Human nature and individual differences: The evolution of human personality», in Handbook of personality: Theory and research, n. 2, pp. 31-56.
Buss, David M., Schmitt, David P. (1993), «Sexual strategies theory: an evolutionary perspective on human mating», in Psychological review, n. 100(2), p. 204.
Butler, Judith (1987), Subjects of Desire. Hegelian Reflections in Twentieth-Century France, (tr. it. Soggetti di desiderio, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2009).
Cava, Antonia (2021), «Dal Rapporto Kinsey a Pornhub. I consumi pornografici delle donne», in Ocula, n. 22(25), pp. 85-104.
Clark, Russell D., Hatfield, Elaine (1989), «Gender differences in receptivity to sexual offers», in Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, n. 2(1), pp. 39-55.
Cometa, Michele (2018), Letteratura e darwinismo. Introduzione alla biopoetica, Roma, Carocci.
Cometa, Michele (2017), Perché le storie ci aiutano a vivere. La letteratura necessaria, Milano, Raffaello Cortina.
Cosmides, Leda (1989), «The logic of social exchange: Has natural selection shaped how humans reason? Studies with the Wason selection task», in Cognition, n. 31.3, pp. 187-276.
Cox, Anthony, Fisher, Maryanne (2009), «The Texas billionaire's pregnant bride: An evolutionary interpretation of romance fiction title»s, in Journal of social, evolutionary, and cultural psychology, n. 3(4), p. 386-401.
Daly, Martin, Wilson, Margo (1988), «Evolutionary social psychology and family homicide», in Science, n. 242(4878), pp. 519-524.
Darwin, Charles (1871), The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Introd. by John Tyler Bonner and Robert M. May, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1981.
Darwin, Charles (1859), On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, ed. J. Carroll, Routledge, London 2004.
Diamond, Jared (1998), Why Is Sex Fun, New York, Basic Books.
Ellis, Bruce J., Symons, Donald (1990), «Sex differences in sexual fantasy: An evolutionary psychological approach», in Journal of Sex Research, n. 27(4), pp. 527-555.
Ferretti, Francesco (2022), L’istinto persuasivo. Come e perché gli umani hanno iniziato a raccontare storie, Roma, Carocci.
Frith, Uta, Perner, Josef, Leslie, Alan M., Leekam, Susan R. (1989), «Exploration of the autistic child’s theory of mind. Knowledge, belief and communication», in Child Development, n. 60, pp. 689-700.
Gallese, Vittorio, Goldman, Alvin (1998), «Mirror neurons and the simulation theory of mind-reading», in Trends in Cognitive Science», 1998, vol. 2, n. 12, pp. 493-501.
Gallagher, Shaun (2001), «The Practice of Mind: theory, simulation, or primary interaction?», in Journal Of Consciousness Studies, n. 5, pp. 83-108.
Gallagher, Shaun; Hutto, Daniel. «Understanding others through primary interaction and narrative practice», in The shared mind: Perspectives on intersubjectivity, 2008, n. 12, pp. 17-38.
Gordon, Robert (1995), Simulation without introspection or inference from me to you, in Mental Simulation: Evaluations and Applications, a cura di M. Davies e T. Stone, Oxford, Blackwell.
Gordon , Robert (1996), «Radical» simulationism, in Theories of Theories of Mind, a cura di P. Carruthers e P. Smith, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Gottschall, Jonathan (2021), The story paradox: how our love of storytelling builds societies and tears them down, UK, Hachette.
Gottschall, Jonathan (2012), The storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York (tr. it. L’istinto di narrare come le storie ci hanno reso umani, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2012).
Guéguen, Nicolas (2011), «Effects of solicitor sex and attractiveness on receptivity to sexual offers: A field study», in Archives of Sexual Behavior, n. 40, pp. 915-919.
Hite, Shere (1977), Il rapporto Hite. Una inchiesta nuova sulla sessualità femminile, Milano, Bompiani.
Hutto, Daniel (2007), «Narrative and understanding persons», in Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements, 2007, n. 60, pp. 1-16.
Li, Norman P., Kenrick, Douglas T. (2006), «Sex similarities and differences in preferences for short-term mates: what, whether, and why», in Journal of personality and social psychology, n. 90(3), p. 468.
Lombardi Vallauri, Edoardo (2020), Ancora bigotti. Gli italiani e la morale sessuale, Torino, Einaudi.
Kenrick, Douglas, Sadalla, Edward, Groth, G., Trost, Melaine R. (1990), «Evolution, traits, and the stages of human courtship: Qualifying the parental investment model», in Journal of personality, n. 58(1), pp. 97-116.
Kinsey, Alfred C., Pomeroy, Wardell. B.; Martin, Clyde E.; Bebhard, Paul H. (1953), Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, Philadelphia, Saunders.
Kipnis, Laura (1996), Bound and gagged: Pornography and the politics of fantasy in America, New York, Grove Press.
Perconti, Pietro (2021), Identity, Narratives, and Psychopathology: A Critical Perspective, in V. Cardella, A. Gangemi, eds., Psychopathology and Philosophy of Mind: What Mental Disorders Can Tell Us about Our Minds, Routledge, pp. 214-221.
Perconti, Pietro (2018), «Identità narrativa ed esperienze non concettuali», in Bollettino della società filosofica italiana, n. 3, pp. 43-54.
Perconti, Pietro (2013), «I limiti delle storie su stessi», in F. Desideri e P. F. Pieri, eds, Prima e terza persona. Forme dell'identità e declinazioni del conoscere (special issue of Atque. Materiali tra filosofia e psicoterapia, n. 13, pp. 45-56).
Perconti, Pietro (2003), Leggere le menti, Milano, Bruno Mondadori.
Pinker, Steven (2010), Fatti di parole. La natura umana svelata dal linguaggio, Mondadori, Milano.
Pinker, Steven (2002), The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, New York, Viking.
Plebe, Alessio, Perconti, Pietro (2022), The Future of the Artificial Mind, Crc Press.
Premack, David, Woodruff, Guy (1978), «Does the chimpanzee have a “Theory of mind”?», in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, n. 4, pp. 426-515.
Salmon, Catherine, Symons, Donald (2003), Warrior lovers: Erotic fiction, evolution and female sexuality, Yale, University Press.
Simpson, Jeffry A., Gangestad, Steven W. (1992), «Sociosexuality and romantic partner choice», in Journal of personality, n. 60(1), pp. 31-51.
Strossen, Nadine (1995), In Defense of Pornography: Free Speech and the Fight for Women’s Right (tr. it. Difesa della Pornografia, Castelvecchi, Roma 2005).
Symons, Donald (1979), The Evolution of Human Sexuality, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Trivers, Robert (1972), Parental investment and sexual selection. Sexual Selection & the Descent of Man, Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 136-179.
Wimmer, Heinz, Perner, Josef (1983), «Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children’s understanding of deception», in Cognition, n. 13, pp. 103-128.
Published
2023-10-02
How to Cite
Bruni, D. (2023) “Gender differences in storytelling”, Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio. Available at: http://rifl.unical.it/index.php/rifl/article/view/771 (Accessed: 27December2024).
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Articles
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