There is a long-standing stereotype, especially in the western world, which depicts women as more emotional than men. However, based on research, is this stereotype accurate?
One large-scale research (Larson and Pleck, 1999) had married men and women fill out a quick rating of their current mood and emotional at different times throughout the day. The result? No gender differences: “there was simply no evidence that the husbands were less emotional than their wives,” concluded the researchers.
Not only this but when married couples argue, it is the husbands that show stronger and longer-lasting physiological emotion than their wives. As a result, husbands tend to avoid marital conflicts, whereas wives are more willing to argue and confront their spouse with problems (Gottman, 1994).
The reason for this stereotype could be the fact that women feel (due to societies norms and values) more willing to report their emotions and claim to have stronger feelings. Social norms may put pressure on men to stifle their emotions and not admit to having stronger feelings.
What about love? The evidence also contradicts the view that women love more than men. Men fall in love faster than women and women fall out of love faster than men (Hill, Rubin & Peplau, 1976; Huston, Surra, Fitzgerald, & Cate, 1981; Kanin, Davidson, & Scheck, 1970). Furthermore men have more experiences of loving someone who does not love them back, while it is the opposite for women. Not only this, men suffer more intense emotional distress than women, when a love relationship breaks up (Hill et al., 1976)
In conclusion, the traditional stereotype of female emotionality is wrong. This stereotype (of women being more emotional) can be explained through sociology. Western society and culture have put more pressure on men than on women to restrain their emotions and to refrain from expressing feelings. Based on research findings, one could even say that men are innately more emotional than women.
You are absolutely right! Fascinating how society colors one’s perspective on something that should be so obvious to the thinking person. Interesting post!
Thank you for sharing your research. I have heard something similar.