Sex Roles

, Volume 28, Issue 9–10, pp 511–530 | Cite as

Gender differences in perceptions of emotionality: The case of close heterosexual relationships

  • Susan Sprecher
  • Constantine Sedikides
Article

Abstract

Previous research suggests some support for the stereotype that women are the more emotional gender, but very little research has examined whether women are more emotional than men in the context of close relationships. We examined gender differences in reports of emotions experienced and expressed in close heterosexual relationships. A sample of 197 couples (at different stages of relationship involvement), most of whom were white and from middle-class backgrounds, responded to a list of 25 positive and negative emotions three times. Participants indicated how often they experienced the emotions, how often they expressed the emotions, and how often they believed their partner experienced the emotions (all in the past month). Women reported experiencing several emotions to a greater frequency than men, regardless of degree of relationship involvement. Further, women reported being more emotionally expressive than men in dating and more advanced (e.g., engaged) relationships, but not in marital relationships. Finally, women believed that they were generally more emotional than men, whereas men believed that women were more emotional in the experience of negative but not positive emotions. The results were generally consistent with the stereotype that females are the more emotional gender.

Keywords

Gender Difference Social Psychology Negative Emotion Positive Emotion Great Frequency 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1993

Authors and Affiliations

  • Susan Sprecher
    • 1
  • Constantine Sedikides
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Sociology and AnthropologyIllinois State UniversityNormal
  2. 2.University of North CarolinaUSA

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