Research: Selfless acts for spouse essential part of healthy love

"Masculinity is a spectrum and there are men who are more 'woman' than women in terms of 'female characteristics' such as empathy and compassion," Dr. T. Byram Karasu, chief psychiatrist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, told the Courier-Journal. "Femininity is also a spectrum. On one end, some females have more testosterone and aggression than most men."

Asked why the genders are usually depicted as being in such separate worlds, he replied, "It is the drama that we love. These are the roles we are given to play."

But playing those roles can be harmful, according to researcher Reis. He told the newspaper that "it would make me very happy (if people started seeing) these various qualities as human differences — qualities that some people have more of and some people have less of — and that a person's gender is a very small piece of that."

They did note, though, that in countries and cultures where gender roles are more prescriptive, like Saudi Arabia, the findings may be very different.

EMAIL: lois@desnews.com,

TWITTER: Loisco