Gender, emotion, and rumination

Does an individual's sex, the situational context of an event, and/or the feeling evoked by that event influence emotional expression and/or rumination? In the current study, individuals' expected emotional expression and rumination reactions to specific events were examined. Participants were asked to respond to 6 vignettes, each of which represented a different emotional valence. Data was analyzed to determine if participants' self-reported reactions varied according to sex, the situational context of the event, and the emotion evoked by the event. In addition, masculinity and femininity (as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory-BSRI) were examined as predictors of expression and rumination. Findings indicate that self-reported expression and rumination tendencies vary as a function of sex and emotional context.