Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction: What is the Difference Between a Boy and a Girl?
Part I Warriors
Chapter 2. Enemy Fighting: A Man's Basic Instinct
Chapter 3. Male Friends: Recruiting a Fighting Force
Chapter 4. Organizing the Military: Groups of Egalitarian Men
Part II Worriers
Chapter 5. Protecting Herself: A Woman's Basic Instinct
Chapter 6. Female Friends: Smile, then Eliminate the Competition
Chapter 7. Organizing her Family: The Vulnerable and the Assistants
Epilogue

About the Author

Joyce F. Benenson, Professor of Psychology, Emmanuel College, and With Henry Markovits, Professor of Psychology, University of Quebec.

Reviews

"Brave, thoroughly documented, and written with unusual clarity, Warriors and Worriers
explains more about the fundamentals of gender differences - and the meaning of human
nature - than a library of conventional social science." -- E. O. Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
"Warriors and Worriers is a fascinating look at male-female differences through a sociobiological lens. Benenson's thought-provoking analysis considers a wide range of influences - biological, psychological and sociological - that illuminate the developmental
forces shaping males into warriors and females into worriers. The book is a lively read
nicely balancing scholarly evidence and insight with intriguing anecdotal speculation.
Everyone may not agree with Benenson's conclusions, but I imagine all will find them
provocative." -- Donald J. Campbell, Professor of Management & Leadership, United States Military Academy
"We have been lead to believe that girls are empathetic creatures who value female friendship above all else and that boys are competitive beasts unable to form deep and lasting bonds with other males. In Warriors and Worriers, Benenson and Markovits formidably demonstrate that girls are, in fact, designed by evolution to compete with each other for reproductive resources while boys are designed to form tightly knit and forgiving groups to defend
collectively their reproductive assets. We have ignored this truth that we see every day in play groups, at schools, in board rooms, and at faculty meetings. But now we have Warriors and Worriers to explain in
conversational language what made life so hard as teenagers and what haunts us as adults - that girls and women are really the competitive ones while boys and men are actually very good at being social. What an amazing
paradigm shift, and one that makes so much sense." -- Meredith Small, Professor of Anthropology, Cornell University
"We all know men and women are different. In Warriors and Worriers, Joyce Benenson
tells us the ultimate reason why they are. Men and women have evolved and developed
different psychologies, men to identify enemies and defend against them and women to
care for and worry about their children. In this highly readable and authoritative book,
Benenson shows how biology and environment interact over the life span to produce male
and female minds and why -- not just how -- men and women are different. This is an important book for anyone interested in sex differences, and admit it, we all are." -- David F. Bjorklund, Professor of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University
"Benenson (psychology, Emmanuel Coll.) argues for innate behavioral differences between men and women. She organizes these differences under two umbrella categories called warriors and worriers. Benenson suggests that these demeanors contribute to our survival and have over time become encoded in our genes. Benenson fuels the debate on whether gender differences in behavior are constructed or biological. Her argument is based upon observations of early
childhood across cultures as well as primate studies. The critiques appear universal, and Benenson, working within the school of evolutionary psychology, provides a possible explanation. Recommended for
readers interested in gender studies.
-Scott Vieira, Sam Houston State Univ. Lib., Library Journal
"Warriors and Worriers covers a fascinating array of research studies for interested readers to follow up on. The book is accessible and discussion-provoking -- well suited for undergraduate courses, or for anyone looking for an alternative (yet complementary)
point of view to the usual stance on the evolution of human sex differences." --Kristin Liv Rauch, The Quarterly Review of Biology