Effects of feminism and tears on perceptions of emotional intensity : a quantitative study among undergraduates

Past research found the presence of tears to intensify perceived emotions and much remains to be explored about emotions and tears. This study aims to investigate how feminism and tears may affect the differences in perceived emotional intensity between male and female targets. In two studies, participants rated higher perceived emotion intensity for anger, fear, and sadness images with tears than images without tears; but not for disgust images. In Study 1, feminism, measured using the Feminist Analysis Item scale, was significantly correlated to the reduced difference in emotional intensity ratings between male and female targets for anger images with tears. In Study 2, participants in the feminism group read a feminism passage while the control group read a control passage. Both passages were found successful in evoking feminism thoughts in the desired manner in a pilot study. Results suggested that feminism did not eliminate gender differences in perceived emotional intensity; but might enhance the differences, significantly so for “fear with tears” and “fear without tears” images. This study has extended research on emotional tears, particularly the role that feminism may play in the gender differences of perceived emotional intensity. Future research directions are discussed.Bachelor of Art