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Good Morning Britain explores if men are more selfish than women

Scientists have found the answer...

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When it comes to the difference in the sexes, are men more selfish than women?

The question was posed on today’s Good Morning Britain following the publication of new research into how men and women react to certain situations, and another study into how they spend their leisure time.

Joining Ben Shephard and Ranvir Singh to discuss the matter were husband and wife Toby Young and Caroline Bondy.

They both agreed that men are more selfish than women – and Caroline had countless stories about their relationship to prove it.

She said: “Toby does what he wants to do. It is a good thing as then he is a happy man.”

The couple have four children but Caroline said she does the bulk of the childcare as Toby is “work-obsessed”.

“He has never got up with our kids first in the morning. He often works Sundays so at weekends I’ll be in the park with them on my own,” she said.

She also recounted a time when Toby woke her up at 3am and told her to sleep in a different place as her snoring was disturbing his sleep, and an instance when he took their ‘gorgeous’ au pair to the theatre as Caroline backed out at the last minute over fears about leaving their child with a babysitter for the first time.

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Toby completely agreed that he is the more selfish one in their relationship but he said he can’t help it as it’s the way he has evolved!

He explained: “Women have evolved to be less selfish. They have to be to give up their bodies to have children and then to be good mothers.

“They need to get some satisfaction from behaving less selfishly than men.”

GMB viewers took to Twitter to share their views on the subject.

Whatever we may think, scientists say they have found the answer.

A study by Nature Human Behaviour found that men and women’s brains react differently when it comes to helping others.

When their brain activity was analysed during questioning, the women’s revealed they were more likely to help others.

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When questioned over what they would do with a large sum of money, women were more likely to share it while the men preferred to keep it to themselves.

Meanwhile, a separate study found that men have much more leisure time a day than women.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, men typically spend six hours and nine minutes a day on leisure pursuits, such as watching TV and exercising, compared with five hours and 29 minutes for women.

Women also spent more time a week doing “unpaid work” such as housework, childcare and gardening.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor