Gender, behavioral inhibition/activation, and emotional reactions to negative natural and social events
Publication Date
4-15-2020
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Personality and Individual Differences
Volume
157
DOI
10.1016/j.paid.2019.109809
Abstract
Past research has demonstrated that behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation (BIS/BAS) have considerable impact on emotions; moreover, men and women also report experiencing differential levels of specific emotions (e.g., anger, fear, sadness) and motivational patterns relating to inhibition vs. activation. Thus, can gender differences in BIS/BAS explain divergent emotional responses between men and women across social contexts? The present study showed that compared with men, women revealed a comparable level of anger, but a higher level of fear and sadness in response to negative events—namely, natural accidents and social or moral violations. Moreover, women (vs. men) exhibited higher BIS but comparable BAS. Importantly, BIS mediated the gender difference in fear and sadness (i.e., women's greater behavioral inhibition accounted for their greater fear and sadness), and these patterns held even when gender-related traits (e.g., agency, communion) were controlled. In addition to replicating previous findings that women are more behaviorally inhibitive and express more inhibition-related emotions (e.g., fear; sadness), these results elucidate how differences in BIS/BAS can explain differences in men and women's responding with fear and sadness across negative natural and social contexts.
Funding Number
20720181086
Funding Sponsor
Xiamen University
Keywords
BIS/BAS, Culture, Emotion, Gender
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Christine Ma-Kellams and Michael Shengtao Wu. "Gender, behavioral inhibition/activation, and emotional reactions to negative natural and social events" Personality and Individual Differences (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109809
