Emotions and Gender


Researchers have found the following similarities and differences between males and females:

  • They are experienced at comparable rates, but women more readily remember them later
  • Women seem “more emotional” because they report more intense emotions and more readily “catch” emotions due to higher levels of emotion recognition and empathy
  • Women experience anger at same rates as men, and at the same or higher levels of intensity
  • Women experience anger for longer periods, but also are more likely than men to feel ashamed about their anger
  • Men express more frequently and intensely contempt, loneliness, pride, confidence, guilt and excitement; women express more frequently and intensely positive feelings
  • Both sexes are more emotionally expressive to women, but express greater anger towards men
  • Women are more emotionally-skilled, and compared to men are better at:
  1. Recognizing emotions in themselves and others
  2. Decoding non-verbal expressions of emotion
  3. Using emotions to better understand situations and facilitate solutions to conflicts
  4. Managing their emotions overall
  • However: When sufficiently motivated, and given some time and effort, men can match women’s emotion recognition and processing skills

Sources:

Gross, J. (2008). Emotion regulation. In: M. Lewis, J. Haviland-Jones & L. Feldman Barnett (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions, pp. 497-512. New York: Guilford.

Salovey, P., Detweiler-Bedell, B., Detweiler-Bedell, J., & Mayer, J. (2008). Emotional intelligence. In: M. Lewis, J. Haviland-Jones & L. Feldman Barnett (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions, pp. 497-512. New York: Guilford.

Simon, R., & Nath, L. (2004). Gender and emotion in the United States: Do men and women differ in self-reports of feelings and expressive behavior? American Journal of Sociology, 109 (5), 1137-1176.