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Free Gender Differences in Emotional Expression Essay Sample
The pictures attached reflect on the emotional experiences and how different people react to them. Deciphering these emotions in terms of non-verbal cues like facial expressions is what brings out the difference between these two men. As Hockenbury (2010) found out, it is the value placed on emotions and how we react to them that distinguishes men from women. Both men are happy in the first picture because they share the same experience of emotion i.e. athey both aced their biology test. However, their reactions change in the second picture because they express themselves differently in the way they exclaim. This confirms the fact that expression of emotions actually vary from one person to another irrespective of their gender. They share the same emotional experience but differ in expressing them.
The next two pictures depict how the men differ when it comes to expressing their emotions. One of them implies that hugging is more of an appearance than a reality, and it can only happen in a movie. He does not place much value in the way he expresses himself about the topic they are discussing. His colleague has a different opinion about the same as he places more value in his expressions that he does not wish to talk about it. His reluctance may be due to the cultural influence that views hugging especially between same genders as a vice. As a result, he is more emotionally expressive than the other man is.
Emotionally expressive men in my social group are regarded as weak and more vulnerable because this is a norm largely attributed to women. Those who cry or display their emotions too much are considered helpless and fearful. Men posses' greater emotional control as they place remarkably little value on emotional expressiveness compared to women. They are not particularly sensitive to them because of their position and role in society. Their emotional emphasis is in power and assertion, which confirms their status. Therefore, men who are emotionally expressive are considered emasculate according to Hockenbury (2010). Females on the other hand place more value on emotional expressiveness and in my society, their role and status permits such behavior. They are considered the weak in the society and therefore easily vulnerable to emotions. Being weak means, they are fearful and react so easily to changes in emotions.
Any violation of these rules makes me feel uncomfortable. Majority of the men tend to shy away from powerful women of the society because of the status and dignity attached to them. They consider them hostile and uncontrollable. As Hockenbury (2010) found out, their role in the society demands emotions in order to maintain social harmony an avoid conflict. Therefore, a breach of these rules disrupts the social harmony and respect accredited to men as demanded by the culture of the society.
There are consequences attributed to violation of gender rules in different environments. For instance in a business environment, it may lead to decreased sales. When women assume men's status and become less emotionally expressive, they lose the patience required in business when customers bargain for goods and they are turned away. In a sports team it may lead to decreased teamwork especially when men become emotionally expressive. He may deny his partner a ball because he recalled a past emotional experience with his partner (Hockenbury 2010). This may then lead to poor performance by the team.
Finally, in a classroom environment, it may lead to poor results for both the class and individual students, because frequent thoughts and recall of past emotions makes them lose concentration during lectures. It also makes them avoid sharing what they know with others hence leading to poor results. We can therefore conclude that men and women share similar emotional experiences but differ in their expressions. These expressions are influenced by gender differences and cultural rules. Generally, women are more emotionally expressive than men are.
