Sparrowhawk
09-17-02, 12:33 PM
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Breaking down a male myth
Men not ‘emotional mummies,’ suggests new research
By Jacqueline Stenson
MSNBC
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27 — Most men are not as emotionally shut off as many people think they are, according to researchers who say that guys have long gotten a bad rap in the feelings department.
IN A PRESENTATION here Monday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Mark S. Kiselica, a psychologist at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, argued against the popular notion that men are “emotional mummies” who tend to distance themselves from others, especially female partners.
“Most men are positively well-adjusted … they are not emotional mummies,” he said.
Martin Heesacker, chair of the psychology department at the University of Florida in Gainesville, agreed.
“People fervently believe that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, but the data consistently suggest that this is either inaccurate or grossly overstated,” Heesacker said.
Kiselica reported on a review of studies to date on the ability of men to express emotions and on the impact of mother-son relationships.
It’s long been thought that as part of the socialization process in this country, mothers become less emotionally attached to their sons as they grow up than to their daughters, he said. And this is a common explanation cited for the claim that many men grow up emotionally distant and later have trouble forming strong relationships with female partners, he noted.
But in examining literature in this area, Kiselica found that men are just as likely to have strong relationships with their mothers as women are.
In addition, men were no more likely than women to have alexithymia, a condition characterized by impairments in the ability to identify, recognize and express emotions, according to the report.
“Most men are not alexithymic,” he said. “It’s not the norm.”
Overall, about one in 10 people of either gender are alexithymic, Kiselica said.
The results reject the notion that men are vastly out of touch with their emotions, he said.
That’s not to say that some men don’t have some trouble expressing emotions, he said. In fact, research suggests that men may be somewhat less expressive than women due to how they were raised.
PARENTAL INFLUENCE
Ronald Levant, dean of the Center for Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said many boys are reared to avoid all things feminine, restrict their expression of emotions and be tough and aggressive.
“Socialization into traditional gender roles does not serve us well in today’s world — men or women,” he said.
At birth, boys are more emotionally expressive than girls; they cry more often and have a lower tolerance for stress, Levant said. But by age 6, most boys are already less expressive than girls.
“There’s a broad range of human emotion and boys are steered away from a large segment — the ‘feminine’ ones,” he said.
<hr>
That just goes to show you, Marines are emotionally sensitve as well. We have feelings!
I mean, we feel the recoil of our weapons when we shoot at the enemy..LOl
Breaking down a male myth
Men not ‘emotional mummies,’ suggests new research
By Jacqueline Stenson
MSNBC
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27 — Most men are not as emotionally shut off as many people think they are, according to researchers who say that guys have long gotten a bad rap in the feelings department.
IN A PRESENTATION here Monday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Mark S. Kiselica, a psychologist at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, argued against the popular notion that men are “emotional mummies” who tend to distance themselves from others, especially female partners.
“Most men are positively well-adjusted … they are not emotional mummies,” he said.
Martin Heesacker, chair of the psychology department at the University of Florida in Gainesville, agreed.
“People fervently believe that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, but the data consistently suggest that this is either inaccurate or grossly overstated,” Heesacker said.
Kiselica reported on a review of studies to date on the ability of men to express emotions and on the impact of mother-son relationships.
It’s long been thought that as part of the socialization process in this country, mothers become less emotionally attached to their sons as they grow up than to their daughters, he said. And this is a common explanation cited for the claim that many men grow up emotionally distant and later have trouble forming strong relationships with female partners, he noted.
But in examining literature in this area, Kiselica found that men are just as likely to have strong relationships with their mothers as women are.
In addition, men were no more likely than women to have alexithymia, a condition characterized by impairments in the ability to identify, recognize and express emotions, according to the report.
“Most men are not alexithymic,” he said. “It’s not the norm.”
Overall, about one in 10 people of either gender are alexithymic, Kiselica said.
The results reject the notion that men are vastly out of touch with their emotions, he said.
That’s not to say that some men don’t have some trouble expressing emotions, he said. In fact, research suggests that men may be somewhat less expressive than women due to how they were raised.
PARENTAL INFLUENCE
Ronald Levant, dean of the Center for Psychological Studies at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said many boys are reared to avoid all things feminine, restrict their expression of emotions and be tough and aggressive.
“Socialization into traditional gender roles does not serve us well in today’s world — men or women,” he said.
At birth, boys are more emotionally expressive than girls; they cry more often and have a lower tolerance for stress, Levant said. But by age 6, most boys are already less expressive than girls.
“There’s a broad range of human emotion and boys are steered away from a large segment — the ‘feminine’ ones,” he said.
<hr>
That just goes to show you, Marines are emotionally sensitve as well. We have feelings!
I mean, we feel the recoil of our weapons when we shoot at the enemy..LOl