CULTURE, AGE, AND GENDER AS VARIABLES IN THE EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS

Sociocultural factors significantly impact the ways in which an indivi dual expresses emotion. Cultural norms for managing emotions are also likely to vary by age and gender. Considering that the world has becom e increasingly more interdependent, developing a comprehensive underst anding of emotions is important for understanding and communication ac ross gender lines, and among individuals of various cultures and age g roups, The present study focused on emotions from a cognitive perspect ive, with particular emphasis on the importance of emotions as sociocu lturally constructed. Eighty-nine female and 41 male participants resp onded to the Emotional Control Questionnaire (Roger & Najarian, 1989), which measures the tendency to express or inhibit emotions. The findi ngs indicated significant age and gender differences. Furthermore, com parisons with a sample of British subjects yielded significant differe nces between the two groups.