Date of Award
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Casto, Kathleen
Area of Concentration
Psychology
Abstract
Previous research has established that men and women differ in their physiological arousal and subjective response to emotional stimuli. The present study aimed to investigate why this difference occurs. Specifically, I explore how sex/gender and expressive suppression influence subjective-emotional response and physiological arousal when listening to music. This empirical study involved recruiting human subjects to a laboratory study in which self-reported emotional experiences and physiological measurements (heart rate and skin conductance responses) were assessed under either an expressive suppression or control condition. Importantly, whereas prior research has found effects on the basis of binary categorization of "sex", the present work extends prior research by assessing the subject's gender identity using broader category options beyond the binary as well as a series of continuous slider-scale measures of perceived masculinity and femininity. There was a significant relationship found between changes in skin conductance levels (SCL) when listening to emotional music and body masculinity (reported via slider scale) in the control, but not suppressive condition. When the sample was separated by either cisgender or non-cisgender identities, there were no differences between the gender scales and emotional response in the cisgender group. However, in the non-cisgender group, changes in SCL when listening to emotional music were positively correlated with body masculinity, and negatively correlated with body femininity. This study provides partial support for the effect of expressive suppression on emotional response found in prior research when expanding the gender spectrum. The present work asserts a need for discursive nuance and gender-diversity when researching the interaction between gender, it’s subjective meaning, and emotional response.
Recommended Citation
Werstler, Jon-Douglas, "EMOTIONAL REGULATION AND GENDER: AN EXPLORATION OF HOW GENDER AND EMOTION REGULATION RELATE TO PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO EMOTIONALLY POWERFUL MUSIC" (2021). Theses & ETDs. 6165.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6165