Characterizing Chinese undergraduate students' empathizing-systemizing profiles: a person-centered approach.

While the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory provides a valuable framework for explaining gender differences in STEM majors, previous studies suffer from methodological issues (i.e., the arbitrary cut-off criteria and WEIRD sampling) as well as discrepancies in the behavioral correlates of E-S types. To address the gaps, this study utilized a 3-step latent profile analysis to identify naturally occurring E-S profiles in a Chinese sample and explored the predictors and distal outcomes of the identified profiles. The study recruited 785 (aged 18-25 years, 60% female) Chinese undergraduates. Results revealed five E-S profiles: Disengaged, Empathizers, Navigating systemizers, Technological systemizers, and Self-declared allrounders . Controlling for socioeconomic status, being male predicted a higher likelihood of membership into the Technological systemizers . Besides, membership to the Navigating systemizers and Technological systemizers was associated with better intuitive physics performance. However, no significant variation was observed for social sensitivity performance across E-S profiles. Overall, our results partially conformed to previous findings, highlighting the importance of cultural adaptation and methodological considerations when classifying students' cognitive types.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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