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Men are all sex-driven, sports fans who rarely share their feelings, while women are neurotic, gossipers who love to shop.

Or at least, that what the prevailing gender stereotypes would have you believe.

But a new US study suggests that in reality, men and women are more alike than most people realise.

A new US study suggests that in reality, men and women are more alike than most people realise. The presumed divide, claim scientists, is caused by a tendency to focus on a few extreme differences rather than the many small similarities

The presumed divide, claim scientists, is caused by a tendency to focus on a few extreme differences rather than the many small similarities.

Iowa State University came to this conclusion after analysing 100 personality characteristics reported in different studies that, in total, involved 12 million people.

Their study found an almost 80 per cent overlap between men and women for more than 75 per cent of the reported psychological characteristics analysed including risk taking, stress and morality.

'This is important because it suggests that when it comes to most psychological attributes, we are relatively similar to one another as men and women,' said Zlatan Krizan, an associate professor of psychology at ISU.

Iowa State University found an almost 80 per cent overlap between men and women for more than 75 per cent of the reported psychological characteristics analysed including risk taking, stress and morality

'This was true regardless of whether we looked at cognitive domains, such as intelligence; social personality domains, such as personality traits; or at well-being, such as satisfaction with life.'

The similarities were also consistent regardless of age and over time.

The researchers did, however, find some attributes in which there was a significant gap between men and women.

For example, men were more aggressive and masculine, while women had a closer attachment to peers and were more sensitive to pain.

Overall results, they say, contradict what many people think. One reason, says Professor Krizan, is the difference in extremes.

The evidence researchers aggregated focuses on a typical range of characteristics, but on the far end of the spectrum the differences are often exaggerated.

'People tend to overestimate the differences because they notice the extremes,' Professor Krizan said.

He used aggression as one example. 'If you look at incarceration rates to compare the aggressiveness of men and women, the fact that men constitute the vast majority of the prison population supports the idea that men are extremely more aggressive.

'However, it's a misleading estimate of how much typical men and women differ on aggressiveness, if that's the only thing you look at for comparison,' he said.

People also notice multiple differences at the same, which can give the impression of a larger effect.

'The difference on any one trait is pretty small,' Professor Krizan said. 'When there are several smaller differences, people might think there's a big difference because the whole configuration has a different flavour.'

Professor Krizan says some behavioural differences may be learned through social roles.

Although men may be said to come from Mars and women from Venus, these findings remind us that we all come from Earth after all, he added.