Gender differences in the physiological effects of emotional regulation

Gender differences in the physiological effects of emotional regulation

Previous research has established that emotional regulation impacts our health; emotional expression is associated with a host of psychological and physiological benefits whereas emotional suppression has negative health consequences. Given that emotional-display rules restrict the range of emotion...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of social psychology Vol. 163; no. 2; pp. 256 - 268
Main Authors: Mink, Aaron J., Maddox, MacKenzie M., Pinero, Athena J. Z., Crockett, Erin E.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Routledge 04-03-2023
Taylor & Francis Inc
Subjects:
Clinical research
Cortisol
Emotional Regulation
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Facial expressions
Gender
Gender differences
gender-related display rules
Health
Health status
Hormones
Humans
Hydrocortisone
Laboratory Experiments
Male
Men
Physiology
Saliva
Self control
Self expression
Sex Factors
Variance analysis
Emotional regulation
cortisol
gender-related display rules
gender
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Summary:Previous research has established that emotional regulation impacts our health; emotional expression is associated with a host of psychological and physiological benefits whereas emotional suppression has negative health consequences. Given that emotional-display rules restrict the range of emotion that men feel comfortable expressing, we hypothesized that gender might moderate the health outcomes associated with emotional regulation strategies. In a laboratory experiment, we instructed participants to either suppress or express their feelings in an interview with a researcher about a film they had watched. These participants provided saliva samples at four different points during the procedure for the later determination of cortisol. A Mixed Model ANOVA revealed that participant gender moderated the effect of emotional regulation strategy on cortisol. Contrary to the health consequences typically associated with emotional regulation strategies, men benefited more from emotional suppression than they did from emotional expression. These findings have important implications for future research and clinical work.
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SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0022-4545
1940-1183
DOI:10.1080/00224545.2022.2064732