Mediators of the Gender Difference in Rumination
Abstract
Rumination is engaging in a passive focus on one's symptoms of distress and on the possible causes and consequences of these symptoms. Women are more likely than men to engage in rumination. This study examined whether gender differences in the following beliefs would mediate the gender difference in rumination: the controllability of emotions, the appropriateness of rumination as a coping strategy, responsibility for the emotional tone of relationships, and mastery over negative events. The sample was 740 community-dwelling adults between 25 and 75 years of age, who completed a survey by mail. The combination of beliefs about control of emotions, responsibility for the emotional tone of relationships, and mastery over negative events fully mediated the gender difference in rumination. Alternative hypotheses that the gender difference in rumination was due to gender differences in distress, emotional expressivity, and the tendency to give socially desirable answers were not supported.
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Women ruminate more often than men, which results in prolonged negative affect.
“Previous researchers interested in gender differences in psychiatric conditions such as depression have focused primarily on the fact that women ruminate more often than men, which results in prolonged negative affect (Nolen-Hoeksema & Jackson, 2001; Thayer, Newman, & McClain, 1994).”
From Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation: An fMRI Study of Cognitive Reappraisal (2008) · cites this paper as Nolen-Hoeksema & Jackson, 2001
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“Email: nolen@umich.edu 37 In turn, these gender differences in rumination appear to mediate the observed gender differences in depression (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1999; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991; Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1994).”
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“Email: nolen@umich.edu 37 In turn, these gender differences in rumination appear to mediate the observed gender differences in depression (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1999; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991; Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1994).”
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“…more likely to turn to mothers to regulate their negative emotions, hold themselves more accountable for the quality of mother–child relationships, and are strongly sensitized to interpersonal stresses (Allen & Tan, 2016; Hilt & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2009; Nolen-Hoeksema & Jackson, 2001; Rudolph, 2009).”
Background
- Authors
- Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Jackson, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan
- University of Missouri (US)
- ORCID
- Jackson, Benita
- Venue
- Psychology of Women Quarterly
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2001-03
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 37-47
- ISSN
- 0361-6843 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-6402
- OpenAlex
- W2128519952
- Cited by
- 538
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 71 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 7.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychology of Women Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- rumination, gender differences, mediation, emotional distress, emotional expressivity, social desirability bias
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