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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KEYWORDS:

• Cognitive-Emotional Theory of Esteem Support Messages
• supportive communication
• sex differences
• experiment
• social support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samantha J. Shebib

Samantha J. Shebib (M.S., Illinois State University) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.

Amanda J. Holmstrom

Amanda J. Holmstrom (Ph.D., Purdue University) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.

Adam J. Mason

Adam J. Mason (M.S., Illinois State University) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.

Allison P. Mazur

Allison P. Mazur (M.A., Michigan State University) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Lu Zhang

Lu Zhang (M.A., Michigan State University) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.

Amanda Allard

Amanda Allard is a master’s student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. Please direct correspondence to the first author, Samantha J. Shebib.