Round-up: Do political monuments reduce violence?

The most interesting articles that came to our attention this week

The kernel of truth in gender stereotypes: Consider the avocado, not the apple. Alice Eagly and Judith Hall meta-analyse studies of stereotype accuracy concerning sex differences. They find high levels of accuracy. Across 673 estimates, 85% were in the correct direction (meaning that participants correctly identified that men or women scored higher on some trait). The authors report an average consensual stereotype accuracy correlation of r = .77.

From Worriers to Warriors: The Cultural Rise of Women. Cory Clark reviews the evidence concerning the impact of rising female representation in academia and other institutions. She noted that the rise has directly contributed to cancel culture and to policies like DEI, trigger warnings and safe spaces. She argues that these phenomena reflect female psychology — specifically, aversion to harm, protecting the vulnerable and resolving conflict through social exclusion.