A recent analysis of a survey of 10,000 people found that each sex has firmly entrenched characteristics, with women showing more sensitivity, warmth and apprehension than men. In contrast, emotional stability, dominance, rule-consciousness and vigilance are more typically male characteristics, experts said.

Previous research has claimed that that average personality differences between men and women are small. But the new analysis, published in the Public Library of Science One journal, revealed that each sex shares a distinct set of characteristics, with just 18 per cent of men having a typically “female” set of traits or vice versa.