In an attempt to view more clearly the literature on altruism as differentiated by sex, the paper suggests consideration of more basic characteristics of male and female behavior in terms of past learning and present expectations, rather than solely in terms of society's general set of normative beliefs about the behaviors which are appropriate…

Male and female subjects read descriptions of either a male or a female stimulus person performing well in an emergency situation which had been previously shown to be more masculine than feminine. Subjects then allocated rewards, and evaluated performance, effort, and ability of the stimulus person. On the basis of equity theory it was assumed…