>Contrary to what one might expect, for all of these personality effects the sex differences tend to be larger-- not smaller-- in more individualistic, gender-egalitarian countries.
My working guess is that social dynamics in highly individualistic countries tend to be more competitive, while less individualistic countries are more ritualized -- arranged marriage being a prototypical example of collectivist norms. It seems like a more competitive culture (on both friendly and romantic levels) may lead to increased pressure to express gendered traits -- or it may simply lead to higher levels of stress in social situations, which causes unconscious influences to have more effect. But do these hypotheses fit the Russia datum? I'm not sure.
My working guess is that social dynamics in highly individualistic countries tend to be more competitive, while less individualistic countries are more ritualized -- arranged marriage being a prototypical example of collectivist norms. It seems like a more competitive culture (on both friendly and romantic levels) may lead to increased pressure to express gendered traits -- or it may simply lead to higher levels of stress in social situations, which causes unconscious influences to have more effect. But do these hypotheses fit the Russia datum? I'm not sure.