The Eye of the Beholder and the Sex of the Beheld: The Impact of Gender on the Perception of Infant Crying
Date
2011
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Haverford College. Department of Psychology
Type
Thesis
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
eng
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Haverford users only
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Past research has shown that the sex of a crying infant can affect the way adults perceive an infant's emotions and respond to crying. It was hypothesized that a female infant's crying would be perceived as primarily fearful whereas a male infant's crying would be perceived as primarily angry. It was also predicted that both parents and non-parents would respond more quickly to the distress of an infant they believed to be a female. Forty-one college students and forty parents were shown the same two video clips of a four-month-old infant crying. Participants rated the infant's emotions, their own reactions to the infant, and the time that they would intervene to pick up the infant in two randomly assigned conditions: when the infant was given a male label ("Ethan") or a female label ("Emily"). Contrary to our prediction, results indicated that the sex label assigned to the infant did not significantly impact adult reactions. The sex of the participant, on the other hand, did have a significant effect on reactions to the infant crying. Women were generally more sympathetic and less irritated by crying. In addition, there was a significant interaction between participant sex and parental status. Parents were less irritated by crying than non-parents, however, this effect was far more pronounced for men than women. This finding is discussed in terms of the role of both biological and experiential factors in promoting sensitive and responsive parenting.