Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation

Author

Kristiane Madsen, Utah State University

Date of Award

5-2006

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Emotion regulation is conceptualized as the ability to identify and respond appropriately to emotions. Previous research on gender and emotional expression suggests that female children are socially conditioned to be more expressive, and thus may be more able to regulate emotion with their mothers in relation to their male peers. Participants include 144 mother-child pairs at child age points 14, 24, and 36 months and at Pre-Kindergarten entry who participated in a local Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project. Data consist of videotaped interactions of mothers and infants engaged in a 10 minute free play activity with three bags of toys. Interactions were coded using the Emotion Regulation Rating Scales (ERRS). Two sub scales of this measure were used: Infant Regulation with Mother, and Mother Regulation with Infant. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation. Results indicate a significant gender difference in Infant Regulation with Mother at 36 months. At this age point, girls were more regulated with their mothers than boys. Other age points were not significant. No significant gender differences in Maternal Regulation with Infant were found.

Recommended Citation

Madsen, Kristiane, "Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation" (2006). Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects. 745.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/honors/745