Mediators of the gender difference in rumination

Rumination is engaging in a passive focus on one's symptoms of distress and on the possible causes and consequences of these symptoms. Women are more likely than men to engage in rumination. This study examined whether gender differences in the following beliefs would mediate the gender difference i n rumination: the controllability of emotions, the appropriateness of rumin ation as a coping strategy, responsibility for the emotional tone of relati onships, and mastery over negative events. The sample was 740 community-dwe lling adults between 25 and 75 years of age, mho completed a survey by mail . The combination of beliefs about control of emotions, responsibility for the emotional tone of relationships, and mastery over negative events fully mediated the gender difference in rumination. Alternative hypotheses that the gender difference in rumination was due to gender differences in distre ss, emotional expressivity, and the tendency to give socially desirable ans wers were not supported.