240 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



sions is, I believe, far greater, in general, in women 

 than in men. Men, preoccupied with the active 

 struggle for existence, or with the pursuit of a creative 

 ideal, too often lose sight of the craving for affection 

 which is inborn in their wives. 



The less direct attachment of the male to his 

 family gives him the wider swing which brings 

 greater opportunity to explore and make varied 

 experiences with things and forces. This wider 

 scope, operating through an incalculably long period 

 of evolutionary activity, may well afford an expla- 

 nation of the greater originality of men in meeting 

 new situations, whether practical or intellectual. 

 The larger point of view, the better faculty of dis- 

 covery, the superior ability to make new combina- 

 tions, give to men a self-confidence and a pride in 

 achievement which is more developed than the cor- 

 responding attributes of women. The better devel- 

 oped male sense of justice in respect to large ques- 

 tions, and the greater willingness to take risks for 

 the sake of an ideal, are probably connected with the 

 superior capacity for correct generalization and the 

 greater self-confidence. The sacrifices and suffering 

 which come from mistakes in economic policy fall 

 with special severity on women and children. 

 Women have thus grown conservative as to social 

 experiments. Men, on the other hand, often over- 

 confident in their own judgments, more readily make 

 risky experiments, whether in good or in bad causes, 

 and this willingness may be attributable in part to 



