Sex Differences in Emotion

Abstract

This article examines the findings of several reviews of the empirical literature on biological sex and emotion, focusing on the degree to which perceived sex differences in emotionality are, and in most cases are not, supported while at the same time addressing the implications this body of research has for counseling psychologists. This article also explores potential explanations, such as gender role socialization or situational influences, for the profession’s continued acceptance of large innate sex-based affective differences. Finally, the third section discusses several concerns this continued acceptance raises for the practice of counseling, whereas the last section offers a research agenda building on the review presented herein.

Sex Differences in Odor Hedonic Perception: An Overview

“…When differences are reported, albeit not systematic, it seems that women overrated pleasant odors and underrated unpleasant odors compared to men. In accordance with the view that the hedonic processing of odor stimuli is an emotional rather than an analytical task and because sex differences occur in emotion (Wester et al, 2002), gender should logically affect clearly both the polarity and the extremity of the odor hedonic estimates. Thus, these findings regarding odor hedonic perception are rather surprising insofar as women are considered more responsive to emotional stimuli than men (Lithari et al, 2010) including auditory stimuli such as music and sounds, emotional words or emotional tones of voice (e.g., Schirmer et al, 2002Schirmer et al, , 2005Bachorowski and Owren, 2003) visual stimuli such as pictures and films (see Cahill, 2006 for a review) or danger-related stimuli (Williams and Gordon, 2007).…”

Affirming the Strengths in Men: A Positive Masculinity Approach to Assisting Male Clients

“…In Western societies, there appears to be pressure and social expectations that males constrict emotional expression despite considerable evidence that boys and men are more like, rather than different from, girls and women in their emotional make up (Hyde, 2005;Wong & Rochlen, 2005). Men tend to be capable of recognizing and expressing a wide range of emotions, yet observed differences in emotional expression for men tend to be influenced by social contexts and the willingness to express emotions, not the ability to express emotions (Wester, Vogel, Pressly & Heesacker, 2002;Wong & Rochlen, 2005). Thus, a challenge is to understand the contexts that are conducive to emotion expression (Kiselica, 2003) and cultural influences that dictate how a man expresses his affect.…”

Hip-hop emotional exploration in men

“…Relatedly, research results are usually generalized to implicate men's lack of awareness of emotions as they have been conditioned to discourage from feeling negative emotions such as sadness and fear that may attribute to label of vulnerability and weakness stemming from gender differences in emotional regulation and expression (Blazina & Marks, 2001;Cusack, Deane, Wilson, & Ciarrochi, 2006;Kashdan, Mishra, Breen, & Froh, 2009;Nolen-Hoeksema & Aldao, 2011). However, recent advances in the field suggest that gender differences in emotion awareness are minimal and that studies need to examine the behavioral context and the different forms in which men may choose to express their emotions (Heesacker et al, 1999;Wester, Vogel, Pressly, & Heesacker, 2002;Wong & Rochlen, 2005).…”