Emotional expressivity in men and women: Stereotypes and self-perceptions

Three studies were conducted to assess prevalent stereotypes regarding men' s and women's emotional expressivity as well as self-perceptions of their e motional behaviour. Emotion profiles were employed to assess both modal emo tional reactions and secondary emotional reactions to hypothetical events a nd personal experiences. In Study 1 we asked how men and women in general w ould react to a series of hypothetical emotional events. In Study 2 we aske d how participants themselves expected to react to these same situations an d in Study 3 we asked participants to report a personal emotional event in narrative form. Two gender differences emerged across all three studies. Sp ecifically, women were expected to be more likely to react with sadness to negative emotion-eliciting events in general. They also expected themselves to be more likely to react with sadness as well as to cry and to withdraw more when experiencing negative emotional events. Finally, women report mor e sadness when describing personal events. In contrast, men were expected t o react with more happiness/serenity during negative emotional situations. Also, they expect themselves to react more frequently this way as well as t o laugh and smile more and to be more relaxed in negative situations. Final ly, men tend to report more happiness when describing negative personal eve nts. In sum, the present study gives a more detailed portrayal of how men a nd women are expected and expect themselves to react to specific emotional situations and presents some evidence that these expectations may influence the way they reconstruct emotional events from their past.