Discouragement of Males' Display of Emotions in Western Culture

Kevin Modeszto

Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation

College: College of Liberal Arts

Major: BA.COMM/JOURNALISM

Faculty Research Mentor: Lydia Kaplan

Abstract:

It has been found in Western culture that there are different expectations for handling emotions based on gender. Females are encouraged to show their emotions, while males are heavily discouraged from showing them. There is no difference between the sexes as babies in terms of showing emotion, but the difference is significant by as early as middle childhood. However, as demonstrated in a study with 68 responses dominated by people between the ages of 18-21, this trend is slowly dissipating.