본 연구의 목적은 한국의 젊은 성인에서 언어능력이나 공간능력의 성차가 있는지, 그리고 만약 있다면 어느 정도 크기인지를 살펴보는 것이었다. 연구 대상은 204명의 젊은 성인(남성 106명, 여성 98명)이었다. 언어능력을 측정하는 도구로는 단어유창성과 어휘문제를 사용하였고, 공간능력을 측정하는 도구로는 심적회전검사와 토막짜기를 사용하였다. 언어능력이나 공간능력의 성차를 신장의 성차와 크기 면에서 비교하기 위하여 모든 참여자의 신장도 측정하였다. 주요 결과는 다음과 같았다. 첫째, 언어성 검사의 결과를 보면, 단어유창성과 어휘문제 모두에서 여성이 남성보다 유의하게 우세하였다. 성차 크기는 단어유창성이 d=-0.27, 어휘문제가 d=-0.24로 신장의 d=-2.51에 비해 약 10분의 1 수준이었다. 둘째, 공간성 검사의 결과를 보면, 심적회전검사에서는 남성이 여성보다 유의하게 높았지만, 토막짜기에서는 유의한 성차가 없었다. 심적회전검사의 성차 크기는 d=1.35로 신장의 성차 크기에 비해 2분의 1을 상회하였다. 결론적으로, 단어유창성과 어휘문제에 필요한 언어능력의 성차는 비교적 작으므로 과학적 연구의 대상은 되지만 실제적 중요성은 상대적으로 낮은 편이다. 반면에 심적회전에 필요한 공간능력의 성차는 상당히 크므로 과학적 관심뿐 아니라 현실적 중요성도 상대적으로 높은 편이다.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether and to what extent Korean young men and women differ in their verbal and spatial ability. To this end, 204 Korean adults (106 men, 98 women) were tested on two verbal tests, Word Fluency and Vocabulary, and two spatial tests, Mental Rotation and Block Design. The height of each participant was also measured to compare the magnitude of sex differences in verbal and spatial ability to that of height. The main results were as follows. First, Korean young women were superior to their male counterparts in both verbal tests. The effect size for Word Fluency was d=-0.27 and that for Vocabulary was d=-0.24, approximately amounting to 1/10 of the effect size for height, d=2.51. Second, Korean young men were superior to their female counterparts in Mental Rotation but equal to them in Block Design. The effect size for Mental Rotation was d=1.35, slightly exceeding 1/2 of the effect size for height. In conclusion, sex differences in verbal ability, probed by Word Fluency or Vocabulary, are relatively small and thus may be of scientific, but not necessarily practical, significance. In contrast, sex differences in spatial ability, probed by Mental Rotation, is relatively large and thus, may be of both scientific and practical significance.
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