This again gives us an indication that female emotional processing is different than men's. Wester, Vogal, Pressly, & Heesaker (2002) show that women are more susceptible to show emotions when "implied verbal expression" was present. Implied verbal expression means that a male or female researcher would make harsh comments towards the participant (either a man or a woman), and then their emotional hurt (i.e. crying, anger, etc.) would be measured by way of survey. .
What was particularly interesting to my study was Cann, Mangum, & Wells (2001) research on sexual infidelity. They interviewed college undergraduates and questioned them as to whether they would find sexual infidelity distressing. The results to this study were particularly appealing to me because it was found that women were more hurt at the emotional infidelity, rather than the sexual infidelity. This study illustrated that women felt more betrayed by the possibility of their significant other falling in love, or loving the other woman more due to the sexual escapade more so than they felt betrayed by the sex itself; whereas men tended to express the emotion of anger over the sexual intimacy when their significant other was philandering. These studies have been of great import, and have helped psychologists understand the emotional differences between the sexes.
Taking into account the previous research findings, I intended to both replicate and build upon studies already completed. I designed a survey which would expose the participant to common emotions through case studies, after which the participant would self-report his/her reaction to the cases. The case studies were modeled after common emotions, and "everyday" instances. It was expected that women would experience higher emotional response through the cases than men. Accordingly, my hypothesis was that females would experience more intense feelings in the emotional situations than men.
