Like most of you I am sure, I keep a file of juicy tidbits and quotes picked up from random reading. I especially love it when I find something that confirms what we know, but can’t prove about ourselves. Here are some recent favorites:
The increasing use of both sides of the brain for cognitive processes – bilateral brain involvement – can support a more balanced perspective on life that draws on both our logical, analytical powers as well as our nonverbal, intuitive capacities…..Evidence for this kind of development comes from studies such as that from the Berkeley Institute of Personality and Social Research of women in their forties and fifties. Compared with younger women, the midlife women in this study had a stronger sense of personal identity, better self-awareness in social environments, more confidence, more control over events in their lives, and greater productivity. – The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of The Aging Brain, by Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.
From 1970 to the late 1990’s men’s attitudes toward marriage became more favorable, while women’s became less so. By the end of the century, more men than women said that marriage was their ideal lifestyle. And on average, men become more content with their marriages over time, while women grow less so. A majority of divorced men and women report that the wife was the one who wanted out of the marriage. A recent study of divorces that occurred after age 40 found that wives initiated two-thirds of them. – The New York Times, February 19, 2006
In recent years scientists, using new imaging techniques, have been able to compare brain activity by gender. And what they have seen shows not that women worry more but that women think – and likely worry – differently than men do.
Women’s brains show more communication between the hemispheres than men’s brains, says Dr, Vesna Pirec, a psychiatrist at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. In men’s brains, the left hemisphere – often considered the analytical part of the brain – is more active, she says “With both hemispheres activated in women, there are many more different types of emotional reactions,” she says. “And women, in times of stress, also tend to remember many more details than men would.”….
“Women have a greater tendency to brood, with a lot of [emotion] engaged in it,” says Dr, Joan Land, chairwoman of the department of psychiatry at St. Louis University School of Medicine. “Men have a tendency to be a little bit more obsessive, concentration on ‘What should I do?’ rather than ‘What am I feeling?’” – Article by Connie Lauerman, Chicago Tribune, January 18, 2006
[The online dating service] audience is skewing older than ever before: people 50 and over are the fastest growing age group using the site[s]. – The New York Times, January 13, 2006
– 65% of women who purchased a new product in the past six month were women over age 50.
– Topping the list of new purchases are technology-related products allowing 50+ women to stay connected to friends and family, including DVDs, digital cameras, wide-screen televisions, cell phones and computers. Other popular purchases include new cars, recreational products, cruises and extreme experiences.
– An overall feeling of happiness appears to grow with age – 46% of women in their 50s say they are “extremely: or “very satisfied” with their overall wellness, increasing to 50% of those in their 60s and 66% of those in their 70s. – Aging Redefine, a study by Frank About Women, a Winston-Salem, NC firm specializing in Marketing to women.