Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T14:48:53.929Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Beyond our origin: Adding social context to an explanation of sex differences in emotion expression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2009

Agneta H. Fischer
Affiliation:
Department of Social Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. a.h.fischer@uva.nlhttp://home.medewerker.uva.nl/a.h.fischer/

Abstract

Vigil's socio-relational framework of sex differences in emotional expressiveness emphasizes general sex differences in emotional responding, but largely ignores the social context in which emotions are expressed. There is much empirical evidence showing that sex differences in emotion displays are flexible and a function of specific social roles and demands, rather than a reflection of evolutionary-based social adjustments.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Archer, J. (2004) Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings: A meta-analytic review. Review of General Psychology 8:291322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deaux, K. & Major, B. (1987) Putting gender into context: An interactive model of gender-related behavior. Psychological Review 94:369–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diekman, A. B. & Eagly, A. H. (2008) Of men, women, and motivation: A role congruity account. In: Handbook of motivation science, ed. Shah, J. Y. & Gardner, W. L., pp. 434–47. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Eagly, A. H. (1997) Sex differences in social behavior: Comparing social role theory and evolutionary psychology. American Psychologist 52:1380–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eagly, A. H. & Wood, W. (1999) The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles. American Psychologist 54:408–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evers, C., Fischer, A. H., Rodriguez Mosquera, P. M. & Manstead, A. S. R. (2005) Anger and social appraisal: A “spicy” sex difference? Emotion 5:258–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fischer, A. H. & Evers, C. (under review) Angry bitches and angry men: Sex differences in anger reactions in different social role contexts.Google Scholar
Fischer, A. H. & Manstead, A. S. R. (2008) Social functions of emotion. In: The handbook of emotion, 3rd edition, ed. Lewis, M., Haviland, J. M. & Feldman Barrett, L., pp. 456–70. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Fischer, A. H., Rodriguez Mosquera, P. M., van Vianen, A. E. M. & Manstead, A. S. R. (2004) Gender and culture differences in emotion. Emotion 4 (1):8794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fridlund, A. J. (1994) Human facial expression: An evolutionary view. Academic Press.Google Scholar
LaFrance, M. & Hecht, M. A. (2000) Gender and smiling: A meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling. In: Gender and emotion: Social Psychological Perspectives, ed. Fischer, A. H., pp. 118–42. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
LaFrance, M., Hecht, M. A. & Paluck, B. L. (2003) The contingent smile: A meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling. Psychological Bulletin 129 (2):305–34.Google Scholar
Roseman, I. J., Wiest, C. & Swartz, T. S. (1994) Phenomenology, behaviors and goals differentiate discrete emotions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67:206–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shields, A. (2002) Speaking from the heart: Gender and the social meaning of emotion. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Stoppard, J. M. & Gruchy, C. G. (1993) Gender, context, and expression of positive emotion. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 19:143–50.Google Scholar
Tiedens, L. Z. (2001) Anger and advancement versus sadness and subjugation: The effect of negative emotion expressions on social status conferral. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80:8694.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed