Gender differences in emotions, forgiveness and tolerance in relation to political violence

  1. Conejero López, Susana 1
  2. Etxebarria Bilbao, Itziar 1
  3. Montero García-Celay, Ignacio 2
  1. 1 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

  2. 2 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01cby8j38

Revista:
The Spanish Journal of Psychology

ISSN: 1138-7416

Año de publicación: 2014

Volumen: 17

Páginas: 1-15

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1017/SJP.2014.9 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: The Spanish Journal of Psychology

Resumen

This study, which forms part of a broader research project, analyzes gender differences in: the intensity of diverse emotions, the justification of violence, attitudes towards the terrorist group ETA, forgiveness and tolerance. Participants comprised 728 people (45.5% men and 54.5% women) resident in either Basque Country or Navarra (Spain), representative of all national identities and political ideologies existing in this context. An ad hoc questionnaire was designed and administered between November 2005 and February 2006, a short time before ETA declared a ceasefire. Women reported more intensity in fear for political reasons and scored higher in two of the six measures of empathy included in the study (empathy with prisoners and empathy with those who suffer and think like oneself). Men scored higher in positive emotionality, indifference and Schadenfreude. Women perceived apology and forgiveness as more necessary elements for achieving peace than men. These results suggest that it may be beneficial for women to play a more prominent role in relation to the resolution of intergroup conflicts such as the one existing in the Basque Country.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Averill J. R. (1983). Studies on anger and aggression: Implications for theories of emotion. American Psychologist, 38, 1145-1160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037%2F%2F0003-066X.38.11.1145
  • Avery P. G. (1988). Political tolerance among adolescents. Theory and Research in Social Education, 16, 183-201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00933104.1988.10505564
  • Baumeister R. F., Exline J. J., & Sommer K. L. (1998). The victim role, grudge theory, and two dimensions of forg iveness. In E. L. Worthington (Ed.), Dimensions of forgiveness. Psychological research and theological perspectives (Vol. 1, pp. 79-104). Radnor, PA: Templeton.
  • Ben-Ze'ev A. (2001). The subtlety of emotions. Cambridge, MA: The MI T Press.
  • Branscombe N. R., & Doosje B. (2004). Collective guilt. International perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Brebner J. (2003). Gender and emotions. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 387-394. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00059-4
  • Brody L. R., & Hall J. A. (1993). Gender and emotion. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 447-460). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
  • Brody L. R., & Hall J. A. (2000). Gender, emotion, and expression. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbo ok of emotions (pp. 338-349). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
  • Brody L. R., & Hall J. A. (2008). Gender and emotion in context. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. Feldman Barrett (Eds.), Hand book of emotions (pp. 395-408). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
  • Cehajic S., Brown R., & Castano E. (2008). Forgive and forget? Antecedents and consequences of intergroup forgiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Political Psychology, 29, 351-367. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00634.x
  • Collins A., & Frankenhaeuser M. (1978). Stress responses in males and female engineering students. Journal of Human Stress, 4, 43-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/009784 0X.1978.9934986
  • Crick N. R., Werner N. E., Casas J. F., O'Brien K. M., Nelson D. A ., Grotpeter J. K., & Markon C. (1999). Childhood aggression and gender: A new look at an old problem. In D. Bernstein (Ed.), Gender and motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. (Vol. 45, pp. 75-141). Lincoln, NE : University of Nebraska Press.
  • Cundiff N. L., & Komarraju M. (2008). Gender differences in ethnocultural empathy and attitudes toward men and women in authority. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 15, 5-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1548051808318000
  • David C. F., & Kistner J. A. (2000). Do positive selfperceptions have a " dark side" ? Examination of the link between perceptual bias and aggression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 327-337. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005164925300
  • de Rivera J. (1992). Emotional climate: Social structure and emotional dynamics. In K. T. Strongman (Ed.), International review of studies on emotion. (Vol. 2, pp. 197-218). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Eagly A. H., & Steffen V. J. (1986). Gender and aggressive behavior: A meta-Analytic review of th e social psychological literature. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 309-330. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.100.3.309
  • Enright R. D., & the Human Development Study Group (1991). The moral development of fo rgiveness. In W. Kurtines & J. Gerwitz (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development. (Vol. 1, pp. 123-152). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Etxebarria I.,Apodaca P.,Eceiza A.,Fuentes M. J.,Ortiz M. J. 2003).Diferencias de género en emociones y en conducta social en la edad escolar [Gender differences in emotions and social behavior in school childr en] Infancia y Aprendizaje 26 147-161 http://dx.doi.org/10.1174/021037003321827759
  • Etxebarria I., Ortiz M. J., Conejero S., & Pascual A. (2009). Intensity of habitual guilt in men and wome n and differences in interpersonal sensitivity and the tendency towards anxious-Aggressive guilt. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 12, 540-554. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1138741600001918
  • Fehr R., Gelfand M. J., & Nag M. (2010). The road to forgiveness: A meta-Analytic synthesis of its situational and dispositional correlates. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 894-914. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0019993
  • Ferguson T. J., & Eyre H. L. (2000). Engendering gender differences in shame and guilt: Stereotypes, socialization, and situational pressures. In A. H. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and Emotion: Social Psychological Perspectives (pp. 254-276). Cambridge, UK: Ca mbridge University Press.
  • Field A. (2011). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London, UK: Sage Publications.
  • Fischer A. H., Rodríguez-Mosquera P. M., van Vianen A. E. M., & Manstead A. S. R. (2004). Gender and culture differences in emotion. Emotion, 4, 87-94. http://dx.doi.or g/10.1037%2F1528-3542.4.1.87
  • Golebiowska E. A. (1999). Gender gap in political tolerance. Political Behavior, 21, 43-66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1023396429500
  • Hewstone M., Cairns E., Voci A., McLernon F., Niens U., & Noor M. (2004). Intergroup forgiveness and guilt in Northern Ireland. In N. R. Branscombe & B. Doosje (Eds.), Collective guilt. International persp ectives (pp. 193-215). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hochschild A. R. (1983). The managed heart. Commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • Holmes J.(1989). Sex-differences and apologies: One aspect of communicative competence. Applied Linguistics, 10, 194-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/applin/10.2.194
  • Iqbal N., & Ahmad H. (1993). Gender differences and birth order in expressed and suppressed anger. Journal of Personality and Clinical Studies, 9, 73-77.
  • Konstam V., Chernoff M., & Deveney S. (2001). Toward forgiveness: The role of shame , guilt, anger, and empathy. Counseling and Values, 46, 26-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002%2Fj.2161-007X.2001.tb00204.x
  • Kring A. M. (2000). Gender and anger. In A. H. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and emotion. Social psychological perspectives (pp. 211-231). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Lennon R., & Eisenberg N. (1992). Diferencias de sexo y edad en empatía y simpatía [Gender and age differences in empathy and sym pathy]. In N. Eisenberg & J. Strayer (Eds.), La empatía y su desarrollo [Empathy and its development] (pp. 215-239). Bilbao, Spain: Descleéde Brouwer.
  • Lozano A., & Etxebarria I. (2007). La tolerancia a la diversidad en los adolescentes y su relación con la autoestima, la empatía y el concepto Del ser humano [Tolerance of diversity in adolescents and its relationship with self-esteem, empathy and the human concept]. Infancia y Aprendizaje, 30, 109-1 29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1174/021037007779849673
  • Lutwak N., Ferrari J. R., & Cheek J. M. (1998). Shame, guilt, and identity in men and women: The role of identity orientation and processing style in moral affects. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 1027-1036. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00067-1
  • Macaskill A., Maltby J., & Day L. (2002). Forgiveness of self and others and emoti onal empathy. Journal of Social Psychology, 142, 663-665. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224540209603925
  • Mackie D. M., Silver L. A., & Smith E. R. (2004). Intergroup emotions. Emotion as an intergroup phenomenon. In L. Z. Tiedens & C. W. Leach (Eds.), Studies in emotion and social interaction. The social life of emotions (pp. 227-245). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Mackie D. M., & Smith E. R. (2002). From prejudice to intergroup's emotions: Differentiated reactions to social groups. Philadelphia, PE: Psychology Press.
  • McGarty C., Pedersen A., Leach C. W., Mansell T., Waller J., & Bliuc A. M. (2005). Group-based guilt as a predictor of commitment to apology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 659-680. http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/014466604X18974
  • Miller A. J., Worthington E. L., & McDan iel M. A. (2008). Gender and forgiveness: A meta-Analytic review and research agenda. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27, 843-876. http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2008.27.8.843
  • Moeschberger S. L.,Dixon D. N.,Niens U.,Cairns E. 2005). Forgiveness in Northern Ireland: A model for peace in the midst of the "Troubles".Peace and Conflict Journal of Peace Psychology 11 199-214 http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327949pac1102-5
  • Nellis A. M. (2009). Gender differences in fear of terrorism. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 25, 322-340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043986209335012
  • Ormazabal S. (2003). Un mapa (inacabado) Del sufrimiento [An (unfinished) map of suffering]. Bilbao, Spain: Fundación Manu Robles-Arangiz Institutua.
  • Ortony A., Clore G. L., & Collins A. (1988). The cognitive structure of emotions. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
  • Pá ez D., Ruiz J. I., Gailly O., Kornblit A. L., Wiesenfeld E., & Vidal C. M. (1997). Clima emocional: Su concepto y medición mediante una investigación transcultural [Emotional climate: Its concept and mediation through cross-cultural research]. Revista de Psicología Social, 12, 79-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1174%2F021347497320892045
  • Ru eckert L., & Naybar N. (2008). Gender differences in empathy: The role of the right hemisphere. Brain and Cognition, 67, 162-167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj. bandc.2008.01.002
  • Saket K. H. (2005).Relational aggression: A review and conceptualization. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. The Sciences and Engineering, 63(3-B), 1735.
  • Schafer J. L., & Graham J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147-177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//1082-989X.7.2.147
  • Schumann K., & Ross M. (2010). Why women apologize more than men: Gender differences in t hresholds for perceiving offensive behavior. Psychological Science, 21, 1649-1655. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797610384150
  • Sotelo M. J. (2000). Individual differences in political tolerance among adolescents. Social Behavior and Personality, 28, 185-192. http://dx.doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2000.28.2.185
  • Spears R., & Leach C. W. (2004). Intergroup Schadenfreude. Conditions and consequences. In L. Z. Tieden s & C. W. Leach (Eds.), Studies in emotion and social interaction. The social life of emotions (pp. 336-355). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Tam T., Hewstone M., Cairns E., Tauch N., Maio G., & K enworthy J. (2007). The impact of intergroup emotions on forgiveness in Northern Ireland. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 10, 119-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177 %2F1368430207071345
  • Tangney J. P., & Dearing R. L. (2002). Gender and morality. In J. M. Masling & R. F. Bornstein (Eds.), The psychodynamics of gender and gender role (pp. 251-269). Washington, DC: APA.
  • Tiedens L. Z., & Leac h C. W. (2004). Studies in emotion and social interaction. The social life of emotions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.