Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Barton, Michelle

Keywords

Gender, Emotions, Androgyny, Sex-Roles

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Emotion regulation has been found to be predictive of a variety of psychological outcomes, including internalizing problems. Pre-adolescents, a group particularly susceptible to these problems, have been relatively understudied in terms of how emotion regulation affects these outcomes. Additionally, the issue of gender has been found to influence internalizing problems such that girls report more depression than boys. The current study used a measure of emotion regulation as well as the Children’s Sex Role Inventory to examine the relationship between one’s sex-role type, emotion regulation style, and reports of subclinical depression and anxiety. Participants classified as androgynous endorsed higher levels of cognitive reappraisal, and lower levels of expressive suppression indicating a more adaptive emotion regulation style. Additionally, this group reported the lowest levels of depression. Thus, those reporting an androgynous style may enact the most adaptive style of emotion regulation, as well as have the lowest levels of internalizing problems, however future research should seek to replicate this finding in a larger sample.

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