European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 12, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The bind of sex roles still prevails by Daniel Goleman new York times despite two decades of assaults on sexual stereotypes new research shows Hal Phenil comes to emotional we men and women seem As bound As Ever by irad Lional sex roles. The differences arc starkest in the suppression of feeling psychologists Are finding Hal men generally Are still Mare reticent when it comes to emotions like sympathy sadness and distress White women Are More inhibited when in comes to anger and Seui Lily yet studies Are finding thai Ronen and women differ mile if Al All. In the actual physiology of these feelings the differences appear Only when in comes to their expression. Beyond Iho expression of feeling men and women also re Ler in How they explain an emotional outburst especially intense feelings like anger and sadness and what the appropriate response might be. And these differences seem destined to last. Recent studios show Hal parents still Reaf boys and girls differently in regard to heir emotional life. The stereotypes of emotionality for men and women Are As Strong As Ever in spite of two decades of efforts to break them Down said or. Virginia q Leary a psychologist at Rad Aflfe College o scary was one of several psychologists presenting findings on sex differences in emotions at a meeting recently of the american psychological association. Some of Iho most compelling Laboratory research shows Tor instance that when provoked men and women had equivalent reactions in terms of heart Rale and other physiological responses. Bui when questioned the men usually said they Ware angry while the women usually said they were Hurt or sad in a study men and women viewed scenes of accidents and their victims. The men s faces showed no expression while the women expressed sympathy. Physiological measures meanwhile showed that both men and women Wera equally affected by the scenes. Although women Don t admit to feeling angry As much As do men hey May feel ust As angry inside said Leslie Brody a psychologist at Boston University. It s their Early training that tells women no to be As open about their angor. And the same is Rue for men with emotions like  Brody has reviewed much of Tho research on sex differences in emotion in gender and personality published by Duke University press. In Brody s own research men and women Are presented Wilh situations intended to elicit various emotions. In i Host that elicit anger for instance descriptions of Boli Ayal or criticism men simply react Wilh anger. Women on the older hand were As Likely to say that they would be sad hurl or disappointed. Men Are about four limes More Likely to commit acts of violence than Ara women while women Are about twice As Likely to become depressed As men Brody said when men Ere in conflict they turn their anger against the other person while women tend to turn it against themselves by taking the  the inhibitions in expressing emotion seem strongest in social situations and weakest in silk Lions where a person is most at ease feelings for instance in a study where people were asked to reveal an emotionally upsetting secret men did so As readily As women when they could Tell the secret by talking Inlo a tape recorder or by writing in a private journal. But in face to tace situations differences emerge Between men and women said James Pennebaker a psychologist Al Southern methodist University who did the research on confessions. It s More threatening for men to express emotion that show they Are troubled to said. In the emotional politics of life the relative ease with which men express their anger May Lead to unsuspected difficulties. In a Survey of women who work As secretaries the single most disliked characteristic of maid to Sass was anger q Leary said. Sexuality is another Arena where there is a marked difference Between the sexes in inhibition. One study found thai As Many As 42 percent of women said Hoy were not sexually aroused even As readings of  showed Hal they were responding physiologically. The women in the study were listening to a Lape of an erotic Story while the measurements were made. In the same study not a single Man was unaware of his sexual arousal. Mora recent studies have had similar findings said or. Patricia Morokoff of the University of Rhode Island. Morokoff has found that particularly among women with less sexual experience there tended to be a disparity Between physiological arousal and the arousal they reported measured during both erotic films and sex fantasies girls Are taught to restrict knowledge of their genitals and genital responses White boys Are Freer to explore their genitals mor Koil said. Society presents an ambivalent message to women about sex it is desirable to be sexually responsive with one s partner but it is not desirable to be interested in sex Lor gratification of one d my sexual needs she added one Way out of this double bind is physiological response without awareness it arousal for men the greatest suppression is for a Range of emotions that in terms of gender stereotypes Are seen As unmanly said q Leary. In research Wilh Deborah Smith a psychologist at paga14 the stars and stripes monday sap