I break off from the traditional summer silence to flag up some interesting tests related to Simon Baron Cohen‘s* recent book, The Essential Difference: Men, Women and the Extreme Male Brain.
There are four tests:
- Systemizing quotient test (my own score 21)
- Empathy quotient test (my own score 48)
- Autism Spectrum quotient test (my own score 15)
- Mind in the eyes test (my own score 28)
The first three take the form of choosing how much you agree with a given statement: definitely agree; slightly agree; slightly disagree & definitely disagree. The 4th test involves looking at a pair of eyes, through the letter-box, as it were and then choosing which of four given emotions is being expressed.
In all four tests my score fell into the category where “most women score.” This did not surprise me and I imagine that most people employed in the people industries would score similarly. Why not try them? The overall results (with colour coded gender divide) for over 150,000 participants so far can be seen here (slow link – patience required).
I first came across this topic in an article in New Scientist which suggested that reading fiction might develop social skills.
* cousin of Sacha Baron Cohen aka Ali G and Borat