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Cited by 464Emotions and Moral BehaviorSocial and Intergroup PsychologyPersonality Traits and Psychology

Gender differences in self-conscious emotional experience: A meta-analysis.

Else-Quest, Nicole M., Higgins, Ashley, Allison, Carlie, Morton, Lindsay C.·2012·Psychological Bulletin
DOI 10.1037/a0027930
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Abstract

The self-conscious emotions (SCE) of guilt, shame, pride, and embarrassment are moral emotions, which motivate adherence to social norms and personal standards and emerge in early childhood following the development of self-awareness. Gender stereotypes of emotion maintain that women experience more guilt, shame, and embarrassment but that men experience more pride. To estimate the magnitude of gender differences in SCE experience and to determine the circumstances under which these gender differences vary, we meta-analyzed 697 effect sizes representing 236,304 individual ratings of SCE states and traits from 382 journal articles, dissertations, and unpublished data sets. Guilt (d = -0.27) and shame (d = -0.29) displayed small gender differences, whereas embarrassment (d = -0.08), authentic pride (d = -0.01), and hubristic pride (d = 0.09) showed gender similarities. Similar to previous findings of ethnic variations in gender differences in other psychological variables, gender differences in shame and guilt were significant only for White samples or samples with unspecified ethnicity. We found larger gender gaps in shame with trait (vs. state) scales, and in guilt and shame with situation- and scenario-based (vs. adjective- and statement-based) items, consistent with predictions that such scales and items tend to tap into global, nonspecific assessments of the self and thus reflect self-stereotyping and gender role assimilative effects. Gender differences in SCE about domains such as the body, sex, and food or eating tended to be larger than gender differences in SCE about other domains. These findings contribute to the literature demonstrating that blanket stereotypes about women's greater emotionality are inaccurate.

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  • For negative emotions where females score higher, higher living conditions predict that females express and feel even more negative emotions such as guilt and crying compared with men.

    “For those cases in which there is an overall sex difference such that females score higher on Negative emotions, higher living conditions seem to predict that they express and feel even more negative emotions (e.g., guilt and crying) compared with men (Archer, 2004; Chaplin & Aldao, 2013; Else-Quest et al., 2012; Fischer et al., 2004; Maes et al., 2019; McDuff et al., 2017; van Hemert et al., 2011”

    From A Systematic Review and New Analyses of the Gender-Equality Paradox (2025) · cites this paper as Else-Quest et al., 2012

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Authors
Else-Quest, N. M., Higgins, A., Allison, C., & Morton, L. C.
Affiliations
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore County (US)
  • Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (US)
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • University at Albany, State University of New York (US)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2012-09
Volume
138
Issue
5
Pages
947-981
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
DOI
10.1037/a0027930
OpenAlex
W1999889177
Cited by
464
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 35 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 83 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 3
FWCI
29.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Villanova University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
Keywords
self-conscious emotions, gender differences, guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride, moral emotions, self-awareness, self-stereotyping, ethnic differences
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Child, Child, Preschool, Emotions, Ethnicity, Female, Gender Identity, Guilt, Humans, Male, Men, Middle Aged, Morals, Review Literature as Topic, Self Concept, Sex Characteristics, Shame, Social Conformity, Stereotyping, Women, Models, Statistical, White People, Young Adult

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