GENDER AND AGE PATTERNS IN EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION, BODY-IMAGE, AND SELF-ESTEEM - A QUALITATIVE-ANALYSIS

This qualitative study used written narratives to examine gender and a ge patterns in body image, emotional expression, and self-esteem for a total of 209 boys and girls in the fifth, eighth, and twelfth grades. Seventy-six percent of the sample was Caucasian, 18% African-American , 5% Asian-American, and .5% Hispanic. A major finding indicates that boys restrict emotional expression from early adolescence through late adolescence, while girls increase emotional expression during the sam e age period. Another major finding suggests that girls in late childh ood and adolescence are both more negatively and more positively influ enced than boys by body image. Both boys' and,oil ls' feelings about t hemselves ave primarily influenced in gender-stereotyped ways.