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Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access published online on July 21, 2008
Schizophrenia Bulletin, doi:10.1093/schbul/sbn075
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Sex Differences in Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales—A Meta-analysis

Jouko Miettunen1,2,3 and Erika Jääskeläinen2
2 Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
3 Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; Department of Psychiatry, PO Box 5000, Oulu University, Oulu, Finland 90014; tel: +358-8-3156923, fax: +358-8-333167, e-mail: jouko.miettunen{at}oulu.fi.

Previous single studies have found inconsistent results on sex differences in positive schizotypy, women scoring mainly higher than men, whereas in negative schizotypy studies have often found that men score higher than women. However, information on the overall effect is unknown. In this study, meta-analytic methods were used to estimate sex differences in Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales developed to measure schizotypal traits and psychosis proneness. We also studied the effect of the sample characteristics on possible differences. Studies on healthy populations were extensively collected; the required minimum sample size was 50. According to the results, men scored higher on the scales of negative schizotypy, ie, in the Physical Anhedonia Scale (n = 23 studies, effect size, Cohen d = 0.59, z test P < .001) and Social Anhedonia Scale (n = 14, d = 0.44, P < .001). Differences were virtually nonexistent in the measurements of the positive schizotypy, ie, the Magical Ideation Scale (n = 29, d = –0.01, P = .74) and Perceptual Aberration Scale (n = 22, d = –0.08, P = .05). The sex difference was larger in studies with nonstudent and older samples on the Perceptual Aberration Scale (d = –0.19 vs d = –0.03, P < .05). This study was the first one to pool studies on sex differences in these scales. The gender differences in social anhedonia both in nonclinical samples and in schizophrenia may relate to a broader aspect of social and interpersonal deficits. The results should be taken into account in studies using these instruments.

Keywords: anhedonia / magical thinking / prodrome / schizophrenia / schizotypal personality


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