The Emotional Socialisation of Boys
Evidence indicates that boys are socialised to experience emotions in a different way to girls. We believe this has a profound impact on how men respond to emotions in later life and can help to account for the high rates of suicide in men.
Whilst emotion is undoubtedly biologically influenced much of our emotional evaluation and expression is socially and culturally mediated (Fivush, Brotman, Buckner & Goodman, 2000; Lewis, 1992; Lutz & White, 1986). From an early age caregivers appear to conform to cultural gender norms and unwittingly respond differently to boys and girls, subtly reinforcing gender consistent expressions of emotion (Fivush et al., 2000; Adams, Kuebli, Boyle & Fivush, 1995; Kuebli & Fivush, 1992).
During childhood development boys are more likely to learn through their interactions with others to minimise or ignore much of their emotional experience. As as a consequence they may become less able to recognise or process their emotions in later life (Fischer & Good, 1997; Levant, 1998; O‟Neil, 1981), which is a factor associated with help seeking for psychological problems in adulthood (Sullivan, Camic & Brown, 2014).
Parents have been found to display fewer and less intense facial expressions with baby boys during the first year of life (Malatesta, Culver, Tesman, & Shepard, 1989); discuss emotions less with their sons than with their daughters (Dunn, Brown & Beardsall, 1991); provide less detail regarding emotions in conversations with boys (Fivush et al., 2003); and emphasise and reinforce more „masculine‟ emotions such as anger with boys and more "feminine" traits with girls (Chaplin, Cole, & Zahn-Waxler, 2005).
Girls tend to become more adept at reading both verbal and non-verbal emotions in others, expressing and communicating their own feelings and minimising anger, whilst boys tend to be better at maximising their hostility and anger and minimising emotions of vulnerability, guilt and fear (Maltz & Borker, 1982; Hall, 1987).
Interestingly, both boys and girls get very little formal training or informed learning on emotions and emotional experience. We believe we could be much better at educating children earlier in order to build emotional and psychological strength in later life.
Whilst emotion is undoubtedly biologically influenced much of our emotional evaluation and expression is socially and culturally mediated (Fivush, Brotman, Buckner & Goodman, 2000; Lewis, 1992; Lutz & White, 1986). From an early age caregivers appear to conform to cultural gender norms and unwittingly respond differently to boys and girls, subtly reinforcing gender consistent expressions of emotion (Fivush et al., 2000; Adams, Kuebli, Boyle & Fivush, 1995; Kuebli & Fivush, 1992).
During childhood development boys are more likely to learn through their interactions with others to minimise or ignore much of their emotional experience. As as a consequence they may become less able to recognise or process their emotions in later life (Fischer & Good, 1997; Levant, 1998; O‟Neil, 1981), which is a factor associated with help seeking for psychological problems in adulthood (Sullivan, Camic & Brown, 2014).
Parents have been found to display fewer and less intense facial expressions with baby boys during the first year of life (Malatesta, Culver, Tesman, & Shepard, 1989); discuss emotions less with their sons than with their daughters (Dunn, Brown & Beardsall, 1991); provide less detail regarding emotions in conversations with boys (Fivush et al., 2003); and emphasise and reinforce more „masculine‟ emotions such as anger with boys and more "feminine" traits with girls (Chaplin, Cole, & Zahn-Waxler, 2005).
Girls tend to become more adept at reading both verbal and non-verbal emotions in others, expressing and communicating their own feelings and minimising anger, whilst boys tend to be better at maximising their hostility and anger and minimising emotions of vulnerability, guilt and fear (Maltz & Borker, 1982; Hall, 1987).
Interestingly, both boys and girls get very little formal training or informed learning on emotions and emotional experience. We believe we could be much better at educating children earlier in order to build emotional and psychological strength in later life.
