Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms

We examined differences between men and women, and between young, middle and older age adults in emotion regulation strategies (rumination, suppression, reappraisal, problem-solving, acceptance, social support) and the relationships between these strategies and depressive symptoms. Women were more likely than men to report using several different emotion regulation strategies, and these gender differences were significant even after statistically controlling for gender differences in depressive symptoms. Use of most strategies decreased with age, with two exceptions: (1) use of suppression increased with age for women but not for men and (2) use of acceptance did not decrease with age for women. Use of maladaptive strategies was associated with more depressive symptoms in all age groups and both genders, yet, the use of adaptive strategies generally was not related to lower levels depressive symptoms across groups.     

Stress,Sex Differences,and Coping Strategies Among College Students

The sources of stress (academics, financial, family, social, and daily hassles) and coping strategies (self-help, approach, accommodation, avoidance, and self-punishment) of 166 college students were examined. The relationship between sex, specific sources of stress, and coping strategies was also investigated. Students completed a stress assessment inventory and a stress coping inventory based on a 5-factor revised COPE model (Zuckerman and Gagne Journal of Research in Personality, 37:169–204, 2003). Results found that college women reported a higher overall level of stress and greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies than college men. College men and women also reported different coping strategies for different stressors; however the use of emotion-focused coping strategies dominated over problem-solving strategies for both men and women. These results have implications for designing stress reduction workshops that build on the existing adaptive emotion-focused strategies of college students.     

Antecedents of Physical and Sexual Victimization Among Homeless Women: A Comparison to Homeless Men

Homeless women experience extensive health risks including physical and sexual victimization. Few studies that have gathered information on homeless persons have reported results separately for women or have compared them directly with men. Research that both investigates antecedents of victimization among homeless women and compares them to those for men is necessary to determine whether prevention efforts must be different for each group. We investigated potential antecedents of recent (past 30 days) physical and sexual victimization in a probability sample of 394 homeless women and compared findings to those for 1159 homeless men. As hypothesized, mental disorder, substance dependence, and engaging in economic survival strategies significantly predicted victimization among homeless women. With few dissimilarities, these characteristics also predicted victimization among homeless men. Although differences in the needs and experiences of homeless women and men must be recognized, both women and men require assistance to establish and maintain safe residences, treatment of any substance use and mental disorder, and alternatives to economic survival strategies that place them at risk for victimization.     

Eye tracking, strategies, and sex differences in virtual navigation

Reports of sex differences in wayfinding have typically used paradigms sensitive to the female advantage (navigation by landmarks) or sensitive to the male advantage (navigation by cardinal directions, Euclidian coordinates, environmental geometry, and absolute distances). The current virtual navigation paradigm allowed both men and women an equal advantage. We studied sex differences by systematically varying the number of landmarks. Eye tracking was used to quantify sex differences in landmark utilisation as participants solved an eight-arm radial maze task within different virtual environments. To solve the task, participants were required to remember the locations of target objects within environments containing 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 landmarks. We found that, as the number of landmarks available in the environment increases, the proportion of time men and women spend looking at landmarks and the number of landmarks they use to find their way increases. Eye tracking confirmed that women rely more on landmarks to navigate, although landmark fixations were also associated with an increase in task completion time. Sex differences in navigational behaviour occurred only in environments devoid of landmarks and disappeared in environments containing multiple landmarks. Moreover, women showed sustained landmark-oriented gaze, while men's decreased over time. Finally, we found that men and women use spatial and response strategies to the same extent. Together, these results shed new light on the discrepancy in landmark utilisation between men and women and help explain the differences in navigational behaviour previously reported.     

Fibromyalgia in men and women: comparison of the main clinical symptoms

The prevalence of fibromyalgia (FM) in males is much lower than in women. Thus, current knowledge about the syndrome has been developed from research with women. The aim of the present study is to analyze whether FM manifestations differ as a function of sex. Two clinical groups with FM (21 males and 21 women) and a control group of healthy men (n= 21) participated in the study. Several aspects of pain, sleep, fatigue, psychopathology, emotional distress and functional impact of FM were evaluated with an algometer and questionnaires. The clinical groups showed a significantly greater impairment than the control group in all the self-report measures. However, the FM patients only showed significant differences in the sensibility threshold to the pain, which was lower in the women. In addition, the best predictor of the experience of pain in males was sleep quality, and in the women, catastrofying pain. Our results suggest that the most effective therapeutic strategies to control pain may be different for men and women.     

The effectiveness of men and women in problem-solving groups as a function of group gender composition

Previous research suggests that the fewer women in a group, the less likely their ideas will be considered. The present study was designed to test the effect of gender composition on women's influence. Thirty groups were asked to solve two problems, first as individuals, then as groups. Composition and gender of the subject receiving a helpful clue were varied. Subjects rated the second task and members of the group, and a Bales Interaction Analysis was conducted. Results indicated that men were more influential than women only when in the minority, that women had smaller proportions of leadership acts than men, and that some stereotyped attitudes existed. Results were discussed in terms of previous findings, and suggestions for future research were made.     

Men’s Experience of Psychological Abuse: Conceptualization and Measurement Issues

In this paper the literature on men’s experience of psychological abuse (in the U.S.) is reviewed and the ability to conceptualize and measure such abuse is reconsidered. Scales used to measure psychological abuse based on the experiences of battered women are critiqued as inadequate as measures of psychological abuse of men. Although both men and women direct psychological abuse toward their partners, violence perpetrated by men and women is not necessarily the same. Adopting a gender role perspective on psychological abuse, we argue that women may use different strategies to hurt men including manipulation and gender role harassment, whereas coercive control paired with physical abuse may constitute one version of (male) intimate partner violence.     

Intimate Partner Violence among West African Immigrants

Although the number of African immigrants arriving to the United States has increased significantly, there has been little investigation regarding their experiences of intimate partner violence or coping strategies. This study used focus groups and individual interviews to explore intimate partner violence among 32 heterosexual West African immigrants. Results suggest that although cultural expectations influence their coping strategies, West African–born men and women face different realities, with women reporting multiple instances of abuse and a sense of frustration with the existing options for assistance. Although participants discussed multilevel support structures within the immediate West African community to address intimate partner violence, all of these options maintained a gender hierarchy, leaving women dissatisfied. Challenges and barriers to partner violence resolution and coping strategies are identified. Results are examined in terms of their implications for addressing the needs of this underserved population. Implications for future research and services are discussed and highlighted.     

Men and women's acceptance of coercive sexual strategies varied by initiator gender and couple intimacy

Seventy-two men and 86 women read vignettes describing five coercive strategies for obtaining sexual intercourse on a date. Subjects rated the acceptability of strategies used by male and female initiators for couples who were or were not sexually intimate. Subjects generally rejected all tactics. Results revealed a continuum of increasing rejection from verbal pressure and sexual stimulation, followed by mock force, followed by intoxication and physical force. Although women were more rejecting of any strategy than were men, women were slightly less opposed to verbal pressure and stimulation for “more sex” rather than for “first-time sex.” Women equally rejected most male- and female-initiated strategies, but men were more accepting of female-initiated strategies. Results are explained in terms of sex role norms prescribing that men be initiators and women be gatekeepers in sexual interaction.     

Differences between men and women on stress producers and coping strategies.

Differences in stress producers and coping strategies for 158 men and 243 women were investigated. Analyses of participants' responses to a survey on stress showed significant differences between men and women on eight stress producers and on five coping strategies.     

Sex differences in relationships among anger, depression, and coping strategies of Japanese students

This study investigated sex differences in the relationships among an ger, depression, and coping strategies. Undergraduate students, 77 men and 130 women, 3 not identified by sex, voluntarily participated. Participants made ratings on a self-report about anger, depression, coping strategies, and mental health. Analyses showed that women who reported themselves as angry tended to cope with stress by optimistic and active strategies, while women who reported themselves as depressed tended to cope with stress by withdrawn and passive strategies. Men who reported being depressed tended to select emotion-focused cognitive coping, while men who reported being angry selected no specific coping. Adoption of engaged emotion focused coping strategies were related to mental health only for women.     

Beliefs about and experiences with battering: Women and men in two populations

A questionnaire was developed to measure beliefs about and experiences with violence in the family. Two groups of persons in two different states who had attended conferences on battered women participated in this research. Of the 177 subjects (84% women, 16% men), none of the men had been battered, yet over one-third of the women had been; more older women reported having been adult battering victims than did younger women; the women had less formal education than the men; the women in the lower educational groups were more likely to have been battered and to report fear of becoming victims; and the social service workers reported little fear of battering.     

Parent–offspring conflict over mating: The case of short-term mating strategies

Individuals solve problems of reproduction by engaging in long-term and short-term mating. Short-term mating strategies have both costs and benefits, but their costs are higher for parents than they are for offspring. On this basis, three hypotheses are formulated: first, individuals consider short-term mating strategies more acceptable for themselves than for their offspring. Second, parents consider short-term mating strategies less acceptable for their daughters than for their sons. Finally, men consider short-term mating strategies more acceptable than women. To test these hypotheses a within-participants design is employed, whereby sexually mature individuals with children are asked to rate the acceptability of a set of short-term mating strategies for themselves and for their offspring. Evidence from a sample of 295 British parents provides support for all three hypotheses.     

Effect of prior mental activity on a parafoveal task

This study investigated the effects of spatial and verbal tasks on subsequent strategies of men and women on a parafoveal task. Dextrals, 30 men and 30 women, performed a parafoveal task which had been previously demonstrated to show no visual-field advantage. Mental activity resulting from the spatial and verbal prior tasks produced a right-field (left-brain) advantage on the parafoveal task, which was significantly greater for men than for women.     

Preferences for Rape Reduction Strategies

The present study examined the effects of two subject variables (sex of subject and feminist attitudes) and two strategy variables (strategy aggressiveness and locus of responsibility for change) on the perceived effectiveness and desirability of four rape reduction strategies. Fifty-three females and 36 males served as subjects in a 24 factorial design. Although women rated all strategies as more effective and desirable than did men, attitude toward sex roles was a more pervasive determinants of patterns of perceived effectiveness and desirability than was subject sex. Generally, aggressive strategies were rated as more effective than nonaggressive strategies, and strategies placing the locus of responsibility for change on women were considered more effective than strategies requiring men and society to take action. Strategies that were consistent with sex-role stereotypes (women avoiding rape by passive behavior and men and society fighting rape by aggressive treatment of rapists) were seen as more effective than nonstereotypic strategies. Profeminists found the nonstereotypic strategies to be more desirable, however, and they also rated as relatively more desirable those strategies that placed responsibility for change on men and society. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of sex-role attitudes rather than subject sex differences in reducing rape.     

Gender and Aggression in Marital Relationships: A Life-Span Perspective

This study examines the relationship between age, gender, and marital aggression by comparing conflict resolution strategies, physical aggression, and injury across 6,185 married young, middle and older aged men and women. We found a consistent age effect such that younger participants used more maladaptive conflict resolution strategies, engaged in more physical arguments, and sustained more injuries than older participants. In terms of gender differences, women compared to men used calm discussions less (the least reported by women who were young) and heated arguments more. Analyses on the relation among age, gender, and injuries showed that more young and middle-aged women than men reported that they had sustained injuries at the hands of their spouse and more young men than women reported inflicting injury on their spouse. The results are discussed in relation to research on gender differences in intimate violence and the association of age and intimate aggression in general.     

不同性别比和资源获取能力对未婚男性择偶标准的影响

本研究分别采用文字启动和图片启动两种方式,探讨不同性别比下男性择偶标准的动态变化。实验1和实验2的结果均显示:相比于男多女少启动,在女多男少启动下,男性对女性"好资源"的要求会明显升高。不同性别比启动和男性资源获取能力(而不是童年经济状况)在男性择偶标准上存在着交互效应。相比于男多女少启动,资源获取能力强的男性在女多男少启动下对女性好资源的要求会明显提高,而资源获取能力弱的男性在两种启动下对女性好资源的要求没有显著变化。结论:对资源获取能力强的男性而言,对女性"好资源"的偏好是择偶选择过多时所产生的奢侈需求。     

Conscious and effortful or effortless and automatic: a practice/performance paradox in motor learning

High cognitive effort has been frequently related to better indices of motor learning through the study of many different paradigms. However, automaticity presumably invokes minimal cognitive processing but has often been related to high-level motor performance, which suggests a paradox. The objective of this study was to approach this paradox by examining the viability of the use of different cognitive strategies during practice and performance which promote the benefits of high cognitive effort and automaticity. Members of the university community (14 men and 15 women) divided into 3 groups practiced a discrete precision task. All participants completed four sessions totaling 320 trials and were tested on retention and transfer seven days later. Findings suggest that it is indeed possible to benefit from both effortful and minimal cognitive processing strategies and that they should be used complementarily.     

The relationship between testosterone and route-learning strategies in humans

The relationships between route-learning strategies and circulating testosterone and estradiol levels were investigated in men and women. Testosterone and estradiol concentrations were measured by salivary assays and route-learning strategies were assessed using a direction-giving paradigm based on a novel map. Testosterone was positively correlated with the use of male-biased route-learning strategies in men, but not in women. These findings suggest sex-specific patterns of relationships between circulating testosterone and spatial processing, which apply to everyday spatial behavior.     

Nonwork-to-work spillover: A more balanced view of the experiences and coping of professional women and men

A more balanced view of nonwork-to-work spillover was advanced here. The concentration of research on the negative side may serve to support some damaging assumptions about professional women. A sample of 221 experienced managers indicated how parenting, community work, and recreation affected work both positively and negatively, and the extent they used certain coping strategies. Women comprised 35% of the sample and ethnic minorities comprised 18%. The managers agreed more strongly with statements about positive nonwork-to-work spillover than with those about the negative side. Women and men reported largely the same levels of nonwork involvement, time commitment, satisfaction, positive spillover, and use of the coping strategies. Compared to men, women did report lower negative spillover overall, and greater use of the strategies when they were parents. The findings suggest that employers should be less concerned with how active women are in nonwork, and more concerned with how well both men and women manage their various life domains.