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New Perspectives on Gender and Emotion

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Feminist Perspectives on Building a Better Psychological Science of Gender

Abstract

What does it mean to be emotional? And how might perceptions of emotionality be gendered? In this chapter, we discuss the importance of considering systems of power when conducting research on gender and emotion. We argue that two themes, namely intersectionality of social identities and hierarchies of power and status, provide the way forward for research on gender and emotion. To begin, we take a step back and summarize where investigation of the links between gender and emotion has brought us so far. Then, we discuss the research potential of intersectionality and power and offer suggestions for avenues of future study. Last, we provide concluding thoughts on other promising research strategies and methods that could advance the study of gender and emotion.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A good brief definition of emotion is that emotions are “episodic, relatively short-term, biologically-based patterns of perception, experience, physiology, action, and communication that occur in response to specific physical and social challenges and opportunities” (Keltner & Gross, 1999, p. 468). Emotion researchers typically differentiate emotion from mood and affect. Mood is regarded as a type of general emotional background that is not specifically about an identifiable situation or person. Whereas emotions are about something or someone, moods are not. Affect is a general positive or negative hedonic state with reference to self. Affect is often unconscious, representing automatic evaluations of the world as positive or negative.

  2. 2.

    Psychology has come to intersectionality more slowly than other disciplines, but in recent years interest has picked up substantial momentum. See for example, Cole (2009), Grzanka (2014), Parent, DeBlaere, and Moradi (2013), and Shields (2008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Kaitlin T. McCormick, Heather J. MacArthur, Stephanie A. Shields & Elaine C. Dicicco

Authors
  1. Kaitlin T. McCormick
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  2. Heather J. MacArthur
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  3. Stephanie A. Shields
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  4. Elaine C. Dicicco
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Correspondence to Kaitlin T. McCormick .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

    Tomi-Ann Roberts

  2. Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

    Nicola Curtin

  3. Psychology, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA

    Lauren E. Duncan

  4. Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Lilia M. Cortina

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McCormick, K.T., MacArthur, H.J., Shields, S.A., Dicicco, E.C. (2016). New Perspectives on Gender and Emotion. In: Roberts, TA., Curtin, N., Duncan, L., Cortina, L. (eds) Feminist Perspectives on Building a Better Psychological Science of Gender. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32141-7_13

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