Content-specific gender differences in emotion ratings from early to late adulthood

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State: Public
Version: Author's accepted manuscript
Serval ID
serval:BIB_5840CCA8C5B7
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Content-specific gender differences in emotion ratings from early to late adulthood
Journal
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
Author(s)
Gomez Patrick, von Gunten Armin, Danuser Brigitta
ISSN
1467-9450 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0036-5564
Publication state
Published
Issued date
12/2013
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
54
Number
6
Pages
451-458
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
The investigation of gender differences in emotion has attracted much attention given the potential ramifications on our understanding of sexual differences in disorders involving emotion dysregulation. Yet, research on content-specific gender differences across adulthood in emotional responding is lacking. The aims of the present study were twofold. First, we sought to investigate to what extent gender differences in the self-reported emotional experience are content specific. Second, we sought to determine whether gender differences are stable across the adult lifespan. We assessed valence and arousal ratings of 14 picture series, each of a different content, in 94 men and 118 women aged 20 to 81. Compared to women, men reacted more positively to erotic images, whereas women rated low-arousing pleasant family scenes and landscapes as particularly positive. Women displayed a disposition to respond with greater defensive activation (i.e., more negative valence and higher arousal), in particular to the most arousing unpleasant contents. Importantly, significant interactions between gender and age were not found for any single content. This study makes a novel contribution by showing that gender differences in the affective experiences in response to different contents persist across the adult lifespan. These findings support the "stability hypothesis" of gender differences across age.
Keywords
Adult, Affect/physiology, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Arousal/physiology, Emotions/physiology, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Photic Stimulation, Psychometrics, Sex Characteristics, Young Adult
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
03/10/2013 11:33
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:12
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