1. Anatomy Thesis:
The Emotional
Availability
Between Genders
Korina Calbay, Lily Kincaid, Matthew Leechman, & Margot Harris
Anatomy & Physiology
5th Period
2016

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3FKFT0t5-c

3. Abstract
This study was completed to find and analyze the emotional availability between genders.
We controlled the experiment with a set emotional range, and we left our dependent
variable to be emotion and our independent was gender.The emotional range between
male and female was determined through a series of nine questions in a survey.The survey
was sent out to students and peers via social media and through direct messages.The
majority of people to complete the survey were female. One of the questions with the
largest difference between responses was “do you confide in others?”. 77% percent of
participants said that they do, however the remaining percent of people, who were found to
be mostly male, said they did not. Also, the majority of those who said that they were
emotional were female, while the “kinda” option was evenly mixed with female and male
responses.We found that female are more likely to share how they feel and consider
themselves to be more on the emotional side while male students prefer to keep to
themselves and believe that they are even tempered.

5. Background Information
Anger Fear Disgust Happiness Sadness Surprise

6. Anatomy & Physiology of
the Nervous System
The function of the limbic system is to create emotion and expression in the human
body. It is comprised of the frontal and temporal lobe, hypothalamus, thalamus, and
basal ganglia.
• Frontal Lobe- Used for logical reasoning and the movement of voluntary skeletal
muscles.
• Temporal Lobe- Intake of sensory occurrences
• Hypothalamus- Homeostasis processes such as body temperature, manage pituitary
gland hormone release, and heart rate.
• Thalamus- Consciousness of tactile senses, temperature, and pain.
• Basal Ganglia- Aids in coordination and cognitive and emotional functions, such as the
formation of habits.

7. Studies
Method amongst all studies: Compiling past studies – no Experiment done

8. Gender Difference in Emotion Expression
in Children: A Meta-Analytic Review
• Tara M. Chaplin (Yale University School of Medicine)
• Amelia Aldao (Ohio State University)
• 2012 American Psychological Association
• Psychological Bulletin
• 2013,Vol. 139, No. 4, 735-765
“Gender differences were less pronounced with parents and were more pronounced with
unfamiliar adult (for positive emotions) and with peers/when alone (for externalizing
emotions). Our findings of gender differences in emotion expression in specific contexts
have important implications for gender differences in children’s healthy and maladaptive
development.”

9. Theories
• Brody 1999: Argued that gender differences in emotion expression are the result of a
combination of biologically based temperamental predispositions and the
socialization of boys and girls to adopt their gender stereotypes*.
• Infant boys have
• Girls are expected to display greater levels than boys of most emotions, particularly
happiness and internalizing negative emotions such as: sadness, fear, anxiety, shame
and guilt.
• Consistent with gender roles for females to be more relationally oriented,
nurturing, and accommodating than females.
*paraphrased
This transmission of gender roles may further encourage girls to
show greater positive and externalizing emotions than boys and
may also encourage boys to show more internal emotions.

10. Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation: An
fMRI Study of Cognitive Reappraisal
• Kateri McRae (Stanford University)
• Kevin N. Ochsner (Columbia University)
• Iris B. Mauss (University of Denver)
• John J. D. Gabrieli (Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology)
• James J. Gross (Stanford University)
• Group Processes & Intergroup Relations (GPIR)
• 2008Vol. 11 (2) 143-162
“Compared with women, men showed (a) lesser increases in prefrontal
regions that are associated with reappraisal, (b) greater decreases in
the amygdala, which is associated with emotional responding, and (c)
lesser engagement of ventral and striatal regions, which are
associated with reward processing.”

11. Emotional availability: theory,
research, and intervention
• Hannah Saunders,Allyson Kraus, Lavinia Barone, & Zeynep Birigen
• Front Psychol. 2016; 6: 1069
• Published online: 2015 Jul. 28
“Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) and its limitations are first described. Next, emotional
availability (EA; Biringen et al., 1998; Biringen, 2008) is introduced as an expansion upon
the original conceptualization of the parent–child attachment relationship. As a construct
and as a measure, EA considers the dyadic and emotional qualities of adult–child
relationships. EA is predictive of a variety of child outcomes, such as attachment security,
emotion regulation, and school readiness. Recently developed programs to enhance adult–
child EA are described.”

12. Extra Information
“The field of attachment research acknowledges that there are many
important aspects of parent–child relationships. The various dimensions
of EA can serve to capture these additional aspects. Including EA as an
indicator of the quality of parent–child relationship allows for the
behavior of both the parent and child to be measured, with acknowledgment
that the view of the parent may not be the view of the child on all
occasions. Including this construct in a battery of assessments provides
both a measure of parent–child relationship quality as well as a new
measure of the attachment. This framework also has been useful in
intervention work to promote parent and child well being.”
• 4 scales of emotional availability (EA):
• Sensitivity
• Structuring
• Non-Intrusiveness
• Non-Hostility

13. Experimental Design

14. Hypothesis
If presented with a questions relating
to triggering emotion,
females will then prove to react in
strong agreeance more so than males.

15. Variables
• IndependentVariable: Gender
• DependentVariable: Emotion Range
• ControlledVariable: Emotional Questions included in the survey

16. Materials List

17. The Survey
Hello, we are performing an experiment as a part of our Anatomy Class’ Thesis. We are investigating
the emotional availability compared between genders. We would like to ask you to take part in our
experiment. Please answer everything as accurately as possible.
If you agree to take part in the experiment, you should know that:
· All of the data collected in this survey will be confidential and anonymous
· You can receive information about the nature of the experiment and our results after we have
obtained results.
The experiment should take 5 minutes.
Since this is electronic, you can consent by clicking the continue button and completing the survey.

18. Survey Questions
▪ What is your gender?
▪ Do you consider yourself to be
emotional?
▪ Is there anybody that you
confide in?
▪ How many people do you
confide in and who?
▪ How many times do you notice
yourself being excited or happy
in a week?
▪ How many times do you notice
yourself being sad or in a
depressive mood in a week?
▪ What do you associate positive
emotions with?
▪ What events do you associate
your negative emotions with?
▪ If you would like to have the
details of the experiment
please give your email, if not
comment N/A

19. Procedure
1. Chose Survey Monkey for survey method
2. Created letter of consent to confirm that subject is taking survey
3.Titled survey "The Emotional Availability Between Genders“
4. Created 10 questions to measure the range of emotion
5. Questions have different formats such as multiple choice, short answer, scale ratings, and the option to provide
contact info for further details of the experiment
6.Took the survey link and sent it thru social media to get volunteers
7. Collected data from those that took the survey and monitored choice popularity

20. Results

21. Answer Choices Responses
Female 69 (69%)
Male 30 (30%)
Other 1 (1%)
What is your gender?

22. Answer Choices Responses
Yes 40 (40.40%)
Kinda 46 (46.46%)
No 13 (13.13%)
Total 99
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Yes Kinda No
Male Female
Do you consider yourself
to be emotional?

23. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Yes No
Is there anybody that you confide in?
Male Female

24. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
People you Confide in
How many people do you confide in?
None One Two Three Four 5+

25. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
How often are you happy?
How many times do you notice yourself being
excited or happy in a week?
None of the time 0-10 11+

26. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
How often are you irritable?
How many times do you notice yourself being irritable in a week?
None of the above 0-10 11+

27. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
How often are you sad?
How many times do you notice yourself being sad or in a
depressive mood?
None of the above 0-11 11+

28. What do you associate positive emotions with?
School Family Friends Sports/Exercise Work Food Physical Appearance Hobbies Other

29. What do you associate your negative emotions with?
School Family Friends Sports/Exercise Work Food Physical Appearance Hobbies Other

30. Conclusion

31. • Possible Errors:Too many people skipped specific questions,
screw-you-effect or Hawthorne effect
• We accepted our hypothesis
• We could further the hypothesis by doing an fMRI, or an MRI
with contrast

32. MLA Citations

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Analytic Review." APA. APA, 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
<https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/bul-a0030737.pdf>.
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0056.png?v=1369543923http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0185/5092/products/persons-
0056.png?v=1369543923>.
Http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3b-cA7g29cC7mEnEThnNPA. "Are Woman More Emotional than
Men?" YouTube. YouTube, 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
"My Health Care Professionals." My Healthcare Professionals. Professionals. Web. 19 Apr.
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a.jpg>.
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d4a9ca15fc46ba40e71f94dec0aad28c.r40.cf1.rackcdn.com/journal-homepage-image-cellular-
neuroscience.png>.
Saunders, Hannah et al. “Emotional Availability: Theory, Research, and Intervention.” Frontiers in
Psychology 6 (2015): 1069. PMC. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.