Gender, Context, and Expression of Positive Emotion

Abstract

This study investigated whether positive emotion is differentially prescribed for men and women in self-and other-oriented contexts. Subjects read a scene in which the main character either did or did not express positive emotion toward either the self or another person. After imagining themselves as the main character, subjects rated on a rewards/costs scale how others would respond to them if they had behaved as depicted. Females expected more rewards/fewer costs when positive emotion was expressed toward another person than when it was not, whereas expected rewards/costs did not differ when females expressed and did not express self-directed positive emotion. Males expected more rewards/fewer costs when positive emotion was expressed than when it was not expressed in both self-and other-oriented contexts. Findings indicate that norms for expression of positive emotion are gender differentiated in that women are particularly required to express positive emotion toward others.