7 - Emotion Flashcards
True or false: Gender differences in empathy depend on how empathy is measured.
True: empathy is not necessarily a behaviour, rather a feeling, so it’s hard to measure
What are some advantages and disadvantages of our ways of collecting data to evaluate emotion differences (self-report measures, observation)?
- Self-report: self-report measures are good because you can reach a lot of people, but there’s still the desirability bias
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Observation: But observers could be biased in their perceptions and interpretations of a behavior unless they are blind to participant sex
→ but, social roles apply more in public than in private, people act a certain way in public because we’re always being observed
The one meta-analysis that has been conducted on empathy (as of 2010) showed across 259 studies a sex difference in empathy, favoring ___. Elaborate on this.
Females
- This meta-analysis helps us learn about some moderator variables:
→ The sex difference was greater when empathy was measured by self-report than by observation, which ties into the idea that as women, we know we should be more empathetic, so we score ourselves higher because it’s expected (bias toward fulfilling our own social roles)
→ whereas men may do the opposite
→ One concern with self-report measures is demand characteristics (it’s what people expect of us). Undoubtedly, men and women realize that women are supposed to be more empathic than men. Thus women and men may distort their self-reports of behavior in the direction of gender-role norms
→ demand characteristics will make us act a certain way depending on who we’re with
True or false: When physiological measures of empathy are used (e.g., heart rate or skin conductance), there are no clear sex differences
True: Females reported more empathy than males, and the sex difference increased with age. However, there were no sex differences in the physiological responses to the pictures
Some people argue that sex differences in empathy are not entirely due to demand characteristics; what do they argue in this idea?
- First, implicit measures of empathy continue to show sex differences (subconsciously)
- Second, studies of infants that measure empathy in terms of contagious crying and imitation also show sex differences
→ girls are more likely to imitate than boys (babies) - Third, females are better than males at decoding emotion in others from faces and body language
→ this is not immune to social effects, because by the time you’re old enough to express yourself, you’ve been socialized to a certain extent
What is a second moderator variable shown in a meta-analysis relating to empathy?
- How empathy was defined
–> Gender differences were larger when measures of kindness and consideration were used rather than measures of instrumental help
→ the gender differences are still there, but girls are more likely to offer help in kindness and consideration (“you’re cold, do you need a blanket”), while boys offer more instrumental help (“you lost your phone, here’s a quarter to call”)
The sex differences are larger in ___ and ___ type studies rather than ___. Explain why this is.
Correlational; naturalistic; experimental
→ when you look at shows of empathy in the world, there’s a bigger difference where girls are more likely to offer that behaviour
True or false: One moderator explaining sex difference in empathy is the age of the empathy target.
- The sex difference was larger if the empathy target was an adult rather than a child, indicating that women and men respond more similarly to children
→ if a child is involved, regardless of gender, men and women are the same in their empathy and will always offer help
→ when it’s an adult, help will vary depending on the nature
Males are more likely than females to help in situations of ___. Several moderators emerged in this meta-analysis, what were they?
Danger
- Gender differences were stronger under public conditions, where others could view the behaviour (more aware of gender norms and its expectations), than under private conditions, where the behaviour was anonymous. In situations of danger, we expect men to provide help and women to receive help
What is a social dilemma?
- A social dilemma is a conflict in which one’s self-interest is pitted against the interest of others; that is, what is good for the self is harmful for the group and what is good for the group is not the optimal outcome for the self
→ Most people respond to social dilemmas by failing to cooperate and acting in their own self-interest
In relation to social dilemmas and cooperation, which group (either all-male or all-female) was more cooperative (the sec composition of the group being a moderator variable)?
- All-male groups were more cooperative than all-female groups (d = +.16)
→ In mixed-sex interactions, females were more cooperative than males (d = –.22)
If one examines real-world helping outside of the laboratory, there is more evidence that ___ are helpers compared to ___
women; men
What are display rules?
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Display rules: overlearned habits about who can show what emotion to whom and when they can show it
→ Make it possible to experience one emotion, but display another (or none at all)
→ Tightly tied to gender norms and gender roles – will also vary within cultures
→ p.ex: not crying in the office, not showing aggression in front of an employer
Women’s help is ___ (caring for an individual), and men’s help is ___ (heroic helping and helping in situations of danger)
Communal; agentic (a specific task)
What is the biological foundation for nurturing?
- Pregnancy primes the parent via hormonal events surrounding birth
→ Increases their responsiveness to babies - Non-pregnant partners who are expecting babies also undergo hormonal changes that make them more responsive and nurturing
