A team of psychologists, social scientists, philosophers and evolutionary researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in the U.S. has found evidence suggesting that the slight advantage males have in navigation ability is likely due to differences in the ways male and female children are raised.
In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes how they studied navigational skills in multiple species to find out if there might be an evolutionary basis for one gender or the other having better skills.
I was part of a small study in the army that attempted to teach us land nav using our preferred “style” (no idea if the study got published). They gave us a test to determine if we learned directions better through landmarks or directions. Overwhelmingly it was landmarks. The US army is also largely made up of men.
I know this is all anecdotal but when lost in the woods most men and women that I know default to landmarks. Older generations of men who were in the military were probably taught to navigate mostly via directions (i.e. compass directions) which may be where the preference/stereotype came from in past generations.
Were the directions shit tho?
I use distance and direction, but I’m from the desert where that’s all there is, there are no landmarks. I’ve developed my natural compass from just knowing the sun on the sky.
There was a study some time ago that determined that it is more common for men to build mental 3D maps of their surroundings. Women navigate more commonly like bees by landmarks, direction and distances.
Mental 3D maps are better, but excessive. Affinity for men to do this is probably due to hunting and warfare.
Edit: Unable to find a link.