Sex differences in social cognition: Insights from a sample enriched for social dysfunction
- 1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
- 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
- 3IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Calambrone, Italy
Abstract
Research suggests there are sex differences in social cognitive abilities, with females typically performing better on tasks involving emotion recognition and mental state attribution. However, many prior studies have demonstrated limited replicability, perhaps due to differences in methods employed or samples studied. Given that social cognition is a key determinant of social functioning, and that social dysfunction represents a transdiagnostic issue in neuropsychiatric populations, understanding sex differences in social cognition among individuals with varying levels of social functioning should broaden our understanding of the etiology, expression, and treatment of psychopathology. The present study examined sex differences in gaze perception, perceptual theory of mind, and social inference abilities in a sample (n = 212; 58.5% female) of adolescents and young adults (ages 14–30) ranging from minimal to clinical levels of social dysfunction. Females performed better on tasks involving perceptual theory of mind, social inferencing, and eye gaze perception, and most sex differences remained even after accounting for general cognition, age, and psychopathology. The one exception is that females and males did not differ on a complex, dynamic social inferencing task once accounting for psychopathology. Our findings suggest that females may generally be more sensitive to social signals related to the eyes and may more accurately identify social signals when there is subtle or limited information available. Findings indicate the importance of recognizing sex differences in the presentation of social functioning and, by extension, socially relevant psychopathology. Such differences may have implications for tailoring treatments for social dysfunction.
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BibTeX
@article{kemp2026differences,
title = {{Sex differences in social cognition: Insights from a sample enriched for social dysfunction}},
author = {Kathryn C. Kemp and Scott D. Blain and Saba Zehra and Serena DeStefani and Laura Locarno and Kelly Mathis and Carly A. Lasagna and Costanza Colombi and Cynthia Z. Burton and Aubrey M. Moe and Ivy F. Tso},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0354796},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0354796},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sex differences in social cognition: Insights from a sample enriched for social dysfunction
AU - Kathryn C. Kemp
AU - Scott D. Blain
AU - Saba Zehra
AU - Serena DeStefani
AU - Laura Locarno
AU - Kelly Mathis
AU - Carly A. Lasagna
AU - Costanza Colombi
AU - Cynthia Z. Burton
AU - Aubrey M. Moe
AU - Ivy F. Tso
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0354796
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0354796
AB - Research suggests there are sex differences in social cognitive abilities, with females typically performing better on tasks involving emotion recognition and mental state attribution. However, many prior studies have demonstrated limited replicability, perhaps due to differences in methods employed or samples studied. Given that social cognition is a key determinant of social functioning, and that social dysfunction represents a transdiagnostic issue in neuropsychiatric populations, understanding sex differences in social cognition among individuals with varying levels of social functioning should broaden our understanding of the etiology, expression, and treatment of psychopathology. The present study examined sex differences in gaze perception, perceptual theory of mind, and social inference abilities in a sample (n = 212; 58.5% female) of adolescents and young adults (ages 14–30) ranging from minimal to clinical levels of social dysfunction. Females performed better on tasks involving perceptual theory of mind, social inferencing, and eye gaze perception, and most sex differences remained even after accounting for general cognition, age, and psychopathology. The one exception is that females and males did not differ on a complex, dynamic social inferencing task once accounting for psychopathology. Our findings suggest that females may generally be more sensitive to social signals related to the eyes and may more accurately identify social signals when there is subtle or limited information available. Findings indicate the importance of recognizing sex differences in the presentation of social functioning and, by extension, socially relevant psychopathology. Such differences may have implications for tailoring treatments for social dysfunction.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -