Year

2011

Paper Type

Master's Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Name

Master of Arts in General Psychology (MAGP)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. G. Ybarra

Second Advisor

Dr. L. Lange

Abstract

This investigation explored gender differences and relations among facets of adult stress measured by self-reported cognitive, emotional, and continuous psychophysiological responses to child and non-child stressors. The 46 male and 47 female participants displayed increased heart rate (HR) while watching a video of a happy infant and a decreased HR (associated with increased attentiveness) during a crying infant video. During a cold pressor task, males' HR increased while females revealed a contrary decline in HR. No differences between hyperactive and non-hyperreactive participants were found regarding hypothetical parenting plans or self-reported emotionality. Findings suggest more gender similarity than dissimilarity, possibly due to the evolving nature of parenting (i.e., males and females sharing increasingly analogous parenting roles).

Included in

Psychology Commons

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