Culture and gender issues in adolescence: evidence from studies on emotion

Abstract

The effect of gender on the emotional processes of social sharing and mental rumination was examined in two intercultural studies (N = 555 & 251) on adolescents with a focus on the way in which gender differences operate in different cultures. Adolescents came from three cultures, Indian, immigrant Indian and the English culture. Female respondents were found to initiate sharing more, share feelings more and realise the relational benefits of sharing more. Females also reported higher emotional impact, and more mental ruminations. The surprising finding was that female stereotype of higher emotionality held true more in individualistic rather than collectivistic cultures, providing further suppor t for the hypothesis that gender and culture differences cannot be explained by the same psychological dimensions.