Does gender make a difference in what motivates you?

The 2023 report used tens of thousands of assessments taken by Attuned users from 2018 to 2022. The comparisons below describe averages for the male and female categories recorded in that dataset. They do not represent every gender identity, establish why a difference exists, or predict an individual’s needs. The charts have not been recalculated using newer data.

Attuned measures intrinsic motivation across 11 core values:

• Altruism: Supporting and maintaining the wellbeing of others

• Autonomy: Developing and preserving personal freedom for endeavors such as time management and solving problems

• Competition: Striving to compete with others toward external and internal rewards and goals

• Feedback: Achieving a sense of growth through positive and negative evaluation and recognition

• Financial Needs: Working for a sense of financial security

• Innovation: Seeking opportunities for creativity and unconventional solutions

• Progress: Endeavoring to continuously upskill for personal development and professional growth

• Rationality: Focusing on logic, objectivity, and data for decision-making

• Security: Prioritizing planning and predictability around rules and frameworks to create stability

• Social Relationships: Striving for frequent group interactions and quality human interactions

• Status: Desiring a continuous rise in rank, reputation, and social standing

Comparing the data behind the report, the first thing that jumps out is how alike male and female respondents are. All but three of the values—Security, Altruism, and Competition—rank in exactly the same positions for both male and female respondents.

Global average scores for female and male respondents across all 11 motivators (all time data).

Although average scores differ for some motivators, the overall value hierarchies in this historical sample are similar. Rationality ranks lowest for both groups, followed in ascending order by Autonomy, Innovation, Progress, Social Relationships and Feedback. Status and Financial Needs occupy fourth and second positions respectively. These descriptive rankings should not be read as tests of statistical significance or as measures of a person’s rational ability.

The only three motivators to rank differently are Competition (first place for men, fifth for women), Security (first for women, third for men), and Altruism (third for women, fifth for men). And of these, only Competition has a percentage point difference of more than 4.6%.

“Maybe women aren’t quite from Venus, and men aren’t quite from Mars when it comes to the values that motivate us. We are a lot more alike in our values, in our intrinsic motivations, than it would seem,” says Casey Wahl, founder and CEO of Attuned.

“For example, men have for centuries sought to entrench the idea in social hierarchies that they are more rational than women. But now we have data showing that Rationality as a motivator for men is dead last, just as it is for women. Yes, the average score is a bit higher, but in the hierarchal scheme of things, men just don’t value Rationality all that much.”

Moreover, Wahl notes that even the differences in motivational needs between men and women may be little more than products of the societies in which people grow up.

“Intrinsic motivations come from our value hierarchies—the values that are important to us and which drive our motivations,” he says. “But values are learned. We take them on from those around us and from our communities. The differences that there are between men and women, therefore, likely result from societal expectations and norms. We have been exposed to them over and over, and we feel the pressure to internalize them until they become our own motivations.”

Kristine Ayuzawa, director of people operations at tech recruitment firm Wahl+Case, says that she found Attuned’s data enlightening, but not surprising.

“I tend to think that, deep beneath the surface, at the level assessed by Attuned, men and women are more alike than we are different,” she says. “Motivators like Financial Needs, Security, and Status fall within the top four for both men and women. This reflects the reality that, while many aspects of our work may be fulfilling, ultimately people need to earn a living.”

When measuring internal motivation toward intrinsic rewards, she says, it’s also important to remember context. “While these motivators might show up in different areas of your life, Attuned is looking specifically at work environments. From that lens, it’s no surprise that drivers like financial security, feeling respected at work, and finding opportunities to progress in your career are important to everyone.”

Although Attuned’s data provides a unique macro-level view of intrinsic motivation, Wahl is quick to point out that the values and preferences that drive people are, ultimately, particular to each individual.

An average profile can hide considerable individual variation. Ask each person what matters to them and how it affects their work, instead of assigning needs based on gender or a group ranking.

“In the end, these are averages and, across society, men and women’s motivations are more alike than different,” he says. “What we have to be dearly mindful of is that, when we approach the individual level and move farther away from these averages, people will be very different. That individual motivational uniqueness is what managers will need to be deeply aware of to get the best out of their team.”

This article was originally published on Globis Insights.