Culture & Gender: How do they affect emotion?- October 14th, 2011

• Two gender differences are women typically have a larger deep limbic system than men, which allows them to be more in touch with their feelings and better able to express them, which promotes bonding with others. Because of this ability to connect, more women serve as caregivers for children. The down side to this larger deep limbic system is that it also opens women up to depression, especially during times of hormonal shifts such as after childbirth or during a woman’s menstrual cycle.

Pain also differs for women and men, in studies, women require more morphine than men to reach the same level of pain reduction. Women are also more likely to vocalize their pain and to seek treatment for their pain than are men. The area of the brain that is activated during pain is the amygdala, and researchers have discovered that in men, the right amygdala is activated and in women, the left amygdala is activated. The right amygdala has more connections with areas of the brain that control external functions while the right amygdala has more connections with internal functions. This difference probably explains why women perceive pain more intensely than do men.

http://www.mastersofhealthcare.com/blog/2009/10-big-differences-between-mens-and-womens-brains/

Two Cultural/Ethnic Differences are

1. People persived as Latino, or African American are looked at most likely to be in a gang or drug cartel. This causes them to feel like they should have extreme masculinity and or respect/power just because they are black or latino.
2. Another cultural difference is for example there was this study on students who took some test and after the test they got their scores. The study shows that African Americans and White Americans (European decent also) differed from the Japanese students, showing more evaluative and exposure embarrassment. These results demonstrate that cultural differences, whether due to temperament or direct socialization of cultural values, influence their emotional  responses to achievement situations.

http://jbd.sagepub.com/content/34/1/53.short