اضطراب ذهنی و رفتاری اجتناب: جنسیت، نقش جنسیت و تاییدپذیری ادراک شده خود گزارشی

Commonly reported gender effects for differential vulnerability for anxiety may relate to gender socialization processes. The present study examined the relationship between gender role and fear under experimental conditions designed to elicit accurate fear reporting. Undergraduate students (N = 119) completed several self-report measures and a behavioral avoidance task (BAT) with a tarantula while wearing a heart rate monitor. Gender roles were operationalized as instrumentality and expressiveness, as measured by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire ( Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1975). As expected, women reported greater subjective anxiety and were more avoidant of the tarantula than men. Regardless of gender, low levels of instrumentality were associated with greater avoidance of the tarantula. The hypothesis that men underreport fear compared to women and that gender role differences underlie this reporting bias was not supported. In spite of a ceiling effect on the BAT, results of this study confirm the relevance of gender role in understanding gender effects in fear and anxiety.

Women are substantially more likely to demonstrate and report fear and anxiety than men across the life span. Recent reviews of the gender1 effects in anxiety suggest that risk factors are moderated by gender socialization processes that shape gender-specific expectations regarding the expression of, and the acceptable means of coping with, anxiety (e.g., McLean & Anderson, 2009). According to Bem's (1981) widely cited gender schema theory, all individuals possess some degree of masculine traits, characterized by instrumental (i.e., cognitive and task-oriented) and aggressive behaviors, and feminine traits, characterized by expressive (i.e., emotional and interpersonally oriented) and affiliative behaviors. During gender role development, boys and girls learn socially prescribed behaviors, traits, and skill interests that are consistent with their gender. For example, the expression of fear and anxiety may be considered less consistent with the masculine gender role (e.g., Bem, 1981 and Spence and Helmreich, 1978), and fearful behavior may therefore be less tolerated in boys than in girls (Stevenson-Hinde & Shouldice, 1993). Caregivers and other socialization agents (e.g., teachers, peers, media) may encourage gender-conforming behaviors by differentially reinforcing activity and assertiveness among boys and anxious behaviors among girls.