Sex and Gender Differences in Esteem Support: Examining Main and Interaction Effects

Abstract

Research suggests that sex and gender differences in self-esteem, emotional reactions to esteem threats, and ways of coping with esteem threats may impact the likelihood of using esteem support messages of varying quality. The present experiment grounded in the CETESM, examines how provider gender, provider sex, and recipient sex influence the likelihood of using esteem support messages containing emotion-focused (EF; high or low) or problem-focused (PF; high or low) content, as well as a neutral message (no EF or PF content). Results indicated that females and highly feminine individuals were more likely than males and highly masculine individuals to endorse the use of high EF and high PF messages. Highly feminine individuals were more likely to endorse the use of low EF messages than highly masculine individuals. Femininity and masculinity were both negatively associated with the use of neutral messages, and they interacted so that individuals high in both masculinity and femininity were least likely to adopt this strategy. Sex of provider and recipient interacted such that female providers with male recipients were more likely to endorse the use of high PF messages than male providers with male recipients. Theoretical and pragmatic implications are discussed.

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