And if yes: how and (hypothetically) why? There are somewhat contradictory findings in this field. I am always rather sceptic about gender differences, though, as I suspect that there is a publication bias towards not reporting or not discussing the non-occurrence of gender differences.
Therefore I would like to know your opinion, the references you would rely on most, etc.
I am interested in gender differences on the most general level, i.e. do men and women already differ regarding the self-reports of valence, arousal, pleasant and unpleasant feelings.
Yes, the literature is inconsistent in regard to differences between gender. Maybe if you try to specify more your question - in which area you are trying to check if men and women differ.
I have found differences between gender in the way cancer patients deal with diagnosis and treatment. I observed that women patients report more problems-related distress, high level of distress and worse quality of life (the Journal will publish this manuscript probably in 2 months).
In another study, Salander and Hamberg observed that women and men respond differently to the cancer diagnosis. Women developed long and detailed narratives, and their reports were personal and emotional, with an emphasis on social support, while men favored impersonal reports.
Salander, P., & Hamberg, K. (2005). Gender differences in patients’written narratives about being diagnosed with cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 14(8), 684-695. doi:10.1002/pon.895
Thank you very much.
Our study has truly asked for basic emtional experiences - valence, arousal, pleasantness and unpleasantness - of various pictures. I have specified my question a bit more.
I would be additionally interested within the topic how people responded across genders to different phrasings of a similar emotion. Are there studies in that regard?
This is a very interesting question, too. Could you clarify what you consider "different phrasings"?
We have e.g. found some differences with regard to self-reported emotion when using German compared to English language.
I had some difficulties having equivalent translations for English and German participants in a study as well. Reporting on fun appears to be different compared to reporting on Spaß.
Anyway, what I mean is more like: I was irritated vs. I was heavily annoyed - as different phrasings. I do not expect to find a difference there, mind you, but I would be interested to know whether it has been done already. (I love reporting on null findings wrt gender differences.)
Der Katharina,
I think this new article then could be interesting for you as well:
Costa A, Foucart A, Hayakawa S, Aparici M, Apesteguia J, et al. (2014) Your Morals Depend on Language. PLoS ONE 9(4): e94842. doi:10.1371/journal.
pone.0094842
They, too, find effects of language (foreign vs. mother's tongue) on moral decisions and attribute it to stronger emotional involvement if reading in one's mother's tongue.
As for gender differences, I think all papers reporting some are worth a closer look: Often, the effect sizes are in fact small or negligible and the content effects by far outweigh them. This is at least what we have found, too.
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