Jonathan Ketley Dissertation

Running head: EXPRESSION, INTERPRETATION AND STEROTYPING OF EMOTION 1

Art Interpretation: Explorations into the Gender Differences in Expression, Interpretation and

the Stereotyping of Emotion

Jonathan Ketley (KET12056320)

Canterbury Christ Church University

Author Note

Jonathan Ketley, Canterbury Christ Church University

The present study was approved by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee (ref:

014/007) and adhered to the BPS ethical guidelines.

Special thanks go to Ana Fernandez for her time and effort which made this project

possible.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jonathan Ketley,

Canterbury Christ Church University, [email protected]

EXPRESSION, INTERPRETATION AND STEREOTYPING OF EMOTION 2

Abstract

Stereotypes about gender and emotionality can have strong repercussions when used to

understand human behaviour (e.g. Wright, 1977), however the current methods of

investigation such as the interpretation of facial expressions (e.g. Algoe, Buswell &

DeLamater, 2000) and direct questions about individuals’ beliefs about male and female

emotions (e.g. Fabes & Martin, 1991) provide little insight into the unconscious nature of

emotional stereotyping. Using the novel method of art interpretation, the present study aimed

to investigate whether a sample of 64 participants (24 men, 40 females) would unconsciously

rate the emotionality of abstract and baroque paintings differently when the perceived gender

was male or female. A repeated measure ANOVA for each of the 28 emotions confirmed the

findings of Plant, Hyde, Keltner and Devine (2000) and Fabes and Martin (1991) that the

emotions pride and sympathy are gender stereotyped, with frustration also found to be

stereotyped. Furthermore, the emotion depression was identified as a gender stereotype held

only by males, the connection between this finding and the prevalence of the disorder

depression are discussed. It was concluded that art interpretation may serve as an alternative

to the popular implicit-association test (IAT) (Greenwald, McGhee & Schwartz, 1998) for

uncovering the unconscious gender stereotypes of emotion. Furthermore, the multi-faceted

property of art interpretation also provided insights into the gender differences in emotional

expression and interpretation.

Keywords: emotion, art interpretation, stereotype


Art Interpretation: Explorations into the Gender Differences in Expression, Interpretation and

the Stereotyping of Emotion

“A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art”

-Paul Cezanne

Emotions are essential features of human life (Parrott & Harre, 1996) which are said

to be “specialised states, shaped by natural selection that increase fitness in specific

situations” (Nesse, 1990, p.261). However, as emotions are not entities but concepts of social

practice involving complex internal feelings, a single accepted definition is hard to

distinguish (Parkinson, 1995). Indeed a meta-analysis by Kleinginna and Kleinginna (1981)

identified 92 different definitions of emotion which appears to support the amusing view of

Young (1973) who concluded that “almost everyone except the psychologist knows what an

emotion is” (p.749).

Emotion, explained in one of its earliest theories, is a psychological response to

bodily changes as result of an arousing stimulus (James, 1884). In other words, a stimulus-

related activation of the sympathetic nervous system (e.g. increase in heart rate, sweaty

palms) or parasympathetic nervous system (e.g. decrease in heart rate, relaxing muscles) can

be sensed by the individual and an emotional response occurs related to the bodily responses

(LeDoux, 1996). Therefore the theory suggests we do not (as common sense suggests) run

from a frightening stimulus because we are afraid, we are afraid because we run (James,

1884). The escaping cause’s a physiological response such as an increase in heart rate,

developing the emotion of fear.

The relationship between emotion and a physiological change reported by James

(1884) creates the basis for many modern psychological theories of the phenomena (for a full

review see Power & Dalgleish, 2008). Like James (1884), Damasio (1994, 2000) holds the

view that the brain is the “theatre where emotions are performed” (Wetherell, 2012, p.35) and

insists that neural activity precedes the feeling of emotion. However unlike James (1884),

Damasio (1994, 2000) suggests that emotions do not always have to be the result of a

physical response but the brain can simulate certain body states creating the feeling of

emotion. Labelled the ‘as-if body loop’, the theory suggests that the body acts ‘as-if’ the


physical changes have occurred. Damasio (1994, 2000) postulated that the ‘as-if body loop’

is evident when interpreting emotions in aesthetics which provide the brain with direct neural

and chemical signalling, so for example when observing a painting we find frightening we do

not (in most cases) run, but the same somatic states are simulated by the brain that lead to the

emotion being labelled as fear. A process known as embodied simulation (Gallese, 2005).

In recent years the ‘as-if body loop’ has gained much empirical support from the

discovery of mirror neurons (MN). MN are more commonly applied to the neural activation

of brain regions related to specific actions, for example Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Gallese and

Fogassi (1996) identified that when a monkey observed an investigator move his hand,

neurons in their brains became active related to that movement. However, MN have also been

found to activate when observing emotional stimuli, providing insights into how humans

interpret others emotions (Gallese, Keysers & Rizzolatti, 2004) and illuminating the neural

underpinnings of emotional responses to works of art (Freedberg & Gallese, 2007).

Although there is much controversy surrounding theories that suggest emotions can

occur without physical arousal, the ‘as-if body loop’ and MN are not in isolation. Appraisal

theorists such as Lazarus (1991) suggest emotions occur through the evaluation of specific

situations. Each emotion appraisal involves the judgement of what Lazarus (1991) calls ‘core

relational themes’ so that the feeling of fear for example may occur from the evaluation of

danger. Physiological changes are still important but do not initiate the feeling of emotion as

James (1884) would suggest. Importantly, cognitive appraisal theories can provide an

explanation as to why individuals experience different emotions to the same situation such as

the different responses to the many emotions found in art (Silvia, 2005).

Individual differences in emotion have long been studied in psychology (e.g. Darwin,

1872; Galton, 1876) and a consistent finding within such research is the identification of a

stereotypical belief that females are more emotional than males (Birnbaum, Nosanchuk &

Croll, 1980). Self-reports of emotions do suggest some degree of truth in these stereotypes

with females reporting higher emotionality than males (Allen & Haccoun, 1976; Balswick &

Avertt, 1977) and experiencing more intense emotions when reliving past experiences

(Chentsova-Dutton & Tsai, 2007). These differences could potentially be rooted in how

males and females formulate emotions and although James (1884) viewed gender differences

as irrelevant in the understanding of emotions (Shields, 2002), more recent studies suggest

these views are anachronistic. Pennebaker and Roberts (1992) identified that males were


consistently more accurate than females at detecting changes in their physiological responses

such as an increase in heart rate, whilst functional resonance imaging has identified that

females show a greater activation in the prefrontal regions associated with cognitive appraisal

(McRae, Ochsner, Mauss, Gabrieli & Gross, 2008). These findings lead to the conclusion that

male emotions may occur as James (1884) suggested, whilst female emotions may be greater

understood using cognitive appraisal theories such as the one proposed by Lazarus (1991).

Furthermore, the apparent gender differences in emotional disorders such as depression

(Piccinelli & Wilkinson, 2000) and obsessive compulsive disorder (Castle, Deale & Marks,

1995) provide further support for a “his and hers theory of emotion” (Pennebaker & Roberts,

1992, p.199).

Despite the evidence for gender differences in the experience of emotions, research

suggests it is the belief that males and female differ in their expression of emotion that is the

true cause of gender stereotypes of emotionality. For example, participants in a study by

Fabes and Martin (1991) did not deny that males experience a wide variety of emotions;

instead they held the belief that males and females differed in the expressions of the emotions

they feel. Furthermore, these findings are supported by a similar study by Plant, Hyde,

Keltner and Devine (2000) whose participants believed there to be a greater gender difference

in the expression of emotions rather than in the experience of emotions.

Although these gender stereotypes can be positive or negative (e.g. Hilton & Von

Hippel, 1996) they appear to have strong repercussions when used to understand human

behaviour. For example, councillors who have been seen to class women as hyperemotional

(e.g. Wester, Vogel, Pressly & Heesacker, 2002) and men as hypoemotional tend to blame

the husbands for heterosexual marriage failures (Heesacker et al., 1999). Furthermore, it has

been suggested that the stereotypical view of women as hyperemotional held by judges in the

courts of law lead to female testimonials being falsely discarded under the grounds of high

emotionality affecting their objectivity (Wright, 1977). The stereotypical interpretation of

different gender emotional expressions can also influence an individual’s views on

leadership’s skills in that due to female gender roles, women are often viewed as less

favourable leaders than men (Eagly & Karau, 2002). For example, some individuals even

believe that women are too emotional to be the president of the United States (Nagourney,

2006). It is this gender stereotyping of emotional expression that the present study will focus

on in an attempt to highlight which emotions are unconsciously gender stereotyped.


The classic study by Condry and Condry (1976) found that participants reported

different emotions for infants labelled either ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ when they displayed the same

emotional response. With the ‘boys’ display rated as more angry and less afraid than the

‘girls’, concluding that the simple label of gender is enough to influence the interpretation of

emotion. These gender stereotypes of emotional expression have also been identified in

adults. Participants in a study by Fabes and Martin (1991) perceived female adults to express

on average both basic emotions (fear, sadness, surprise, anger, love and happiness; Shaver,

Schwartz, Kirson & O’Connor, 1987) and 19 more complex emotions more often than males.

Further analysis identified that females were perceived to express love, sadness and fear

significantly more often than males, however males where perceived to express anger more

often than females. In a similar study by Plant et al. (2000), females were perceived to

express a further seven emotions (awe, disgust, guilt, happiness, shyness, surprise and

sympathy) more often than males and males a further one emotion (pride) more often than

females. The believed gender differences in the expression of emotion are suggested to be the

result of culturally specific display rules which govern when and where emotions can be

shown leading to consistent gender role behaviour (Ekman & Friesen, 1975).

The method of data collection used by Fabes and Martin (1991) and Plant et al. (2000)

of asking participants to what extent they believe males or females express emotions, and the

interpretation of facial expressions (e.g. Algoe, Buswell & DeLamater, 2000; Hess, Adams &

Kleck, 2004) are both common practice in emotion research and highlight strong gender

stereotypes in emotional expression. However the platform for the investigation of emotional

stereotype in this study is visual art. As stated earlier, males and females are believed to quell

emotions that do not fit their gender role, however many see art as a way of expressing true

emotion not governed by the display rules of everyday emotional expression described by

Ekman & Friesen (1975). This appears to be the case if the psychodynamic principles are

applied to art. Jung (1922/1978) for example reports that “creative work arises from

unconscious depths” (p.75). Furthermore, O’Connor (1988) states that the unconscious hides

what the creator cannot bare to be conscious (e.g. inconsistent gender emotions) however

these can be released as artistic expression as the production of art is said to be “free of social

convention” (Sayers, 2007, p.83) with Freud (1910/1984) suggesting art can act as a form of

sublimation, in that socially undesirable impulses or emotions are transformed into socially

accepted behaviour via art production. Although no previous research could be found to date


that uses art to explore the gender stereotyping of emotional expression, evidence suggests its

application could be logical.

Aesthetics is one of the oldest areas of psychological research (e.g. Fechner, 1876)

and its association with emotion is said to be no theory, but a fact (Blocker, 1979). Indeed

Cupchik, Vartanian, Crawley and Mikulis (2009) identified a biological link between the two

with areas in the brain, such as the bilateral insula, associated with emotional experience,

activating when interpreting art. Furthermore, art therapy in the form of picture drawing has

been identified as a successful treatment for the emotional problems associated with post-

traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), reducing nightmares (Morgan & Johnson, 1995) and

combating emotional numbing by awakening and learning to control emotions (Collie,

Backos, Malchiodi & Spiegel, 2006). Jung (1933) suggested that art is born from emotions by

describing emotion as the “womb of all sciences and arts” (p.175). One cannot help here but

quote the words of Paul Cezanne “a work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art”

which appears to provide fanciful support for this claim.

The present paper uses the emotional expressiveness of paintings and the finding of

Condry and Condry (1976) that a label of ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ is enough to elicit observed

differences in responses to highlight possible gender stereotypes in emotionality. In the

control condition university undergraduate students were asked to rate the emotions they

thought the artist was trying to portray in either two abstract expressionist paintings or two

baroque paintings by a male and female artist. In the experimental condition the paintings

were switched creating a false gender condition whereby the subjects interpreted the same

paintings as the control group but with different gender labels. As mentioned previously, a

popular method in emotional stereotyping research is the interpretation of facial expressions

(e.g., Algoe et al., 2000). When interpreting the baroque paintings, evidence suggests that the

participants will automatically look to the faces to extract emotional information (Hansen &

Hansen, 1994) without conscious awareness (Morris, Ohman & Dolan, 1998), identifying

with the emotions of the people in the paintings (Faigin, 1992). A second style of painting

was therefore chosen (abstract expressionism) that participants could not rely on facial

expressions to determine the emotions portrayed. Abstract expressionist paintings pose more

of an ambiguous problem to participants and will test the innumerable literature that suggest

we process ambiguous information in a stereotype-consistent manner (e.g. Duncan, 1976).

For example, Fidell (1973) (as cited in Maccoby & Jacklin, 1975, p.183) found that patients


displaying the same ambiguous symptoms were more likely to be diagnosed as

psychosomatic if they were female compared to if they were male.

With visual art being such a novel method of investigating emotional stereotyping the

results are hard to predict, however based on the existing literature the following predictions

are suggested. Paintings that are believed to be painted by females should on average be rated

higher in emotional expression compared to paintings believed to be painted by males (Fabes

& Martin, 1991). More specifically, perceived female artist paintings should be rated higher

in love, sadness, fear, (Fabes & Martin, 1991) awe, disgust, guilt, happiness, shyness, surprise

and sympathy (Plant et al., 2000) whereas male artist paintings should be perceived to

express more anger (Fabes & Martin, 1991) and pride (Plant et al., 2000). With the evidence

that ambiguous information is processed stereotypically (e.g. Duncan, 1976), it is also

predicted that there will be a greater number of these stereotypes found in the abstract

paintings compared to the baroque paintings. By hiding the true nature of the study in art

interpretation, the results should indicate the extent to which these emotions are

unconsciously stereotyped. However, if as mentioned earlier, participants view art as an

expression of true emotion, void of gender rules, there will be no differences in the emotion

ratings of paintings because males and females are believed to experience emotions to a

similar degree (Fabes & Martin, 1991).

Method

Participants

Participants were 24 men and 40 females aged 18 to 53 (men: M = 23, SD = 5.53;

women: M = 22.05, SD = 6.89). Participants were recruited using opportunity sampling

through the Canterbury Christ Church University research participation scheme and received

partial course credits for their participation.

Research Design

This study employed a 2 (style: abstract or baroque) by 2 (gender: male or female) by

2 (perceived gender of artist: true or false) between-subjects design. The dependant variables

were the ratings of 28 different emotions.


Materials and Procedure

Subjects were assigned either two baroque paintings or two abstract expressionist

paintings by a male and female artist and asked to read the short biography about the artist

before rating to what degree they felt each emotion is being expressed by the artist on a 28-

item scale.

Two paintings from the baroque era (c.1600-1700) were selected because of their

ability to portray strong emotion not just in the face but in the bodies of the subjects (Held &

Posner, 1972). These being ‘The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus’ (c.1618) by Peter Paul

Rubens and ‘Esther Before Ahasuerus’ (c.1628-1635) by Artemisia Gentileschi. Two abstract

expressionist paintings were also selected for their openness to psychological interpretation

(O’Connor, 1988) these being ‘Boon’ (c.1957) by James Brooks and ‘The Roaring Wind’

(c.1958) by Perle Fine (see appendix for images). Results later revealed that the paintings

evoked similar emotional impacts, t(56) = .108, p =.914 (see table 1 for mean ratings).

Furthermore, it is worth noting that the titles were removed from the paintings as they can

modify the perception of art (Aldrich, 1963).

Participants were first given an information sheet explaining the process followed by

the chance to ask any questions before signing a consent form (see appendix). Participants

interpreting abstract expressionist paintings were either given two paintings with the correct

artist and biography or the same paintings but with the artists and biographies switched.

Switching the artist also changed the gender creating a platform to study gender stereotyping

of emotional expression by comparing the perceived emotional expression of the same

paintings but with different gender labels. The same procedure was used for the participants

interpreting baroque paintings. Each condition was counterbalanced creating eight

experimental groups.

Interpretation of the artwork required participants to rate to what degree they felt each

emotion is being expressed by the artist in the painting on a 28-item scale (see appendix). The

28-item scale consisted of the 25 emotions used by Fabes and Martin (1991) with the addition

of three emotions that were found to be significantly gender stereotyped by Plant et al.

(2000). These being awe, disgust and shyness. Each emotion was rated on a scale from 0

(none) to 7 (a lot) and the order of emotions on the questionnaire remained the same in the

different conditions. Subjects also provided their age and gender at the top of the


questionnaire. When this procedure was complete, participants were given a full debrief

explaining the study and the minor deception in the false gender conditions.

Results

Gender differences in the overall expression of emotion in art and in the overall

emotion ratings by participants were investigated, alongside the gender stereotypes of overall

emotionality (ratings of paintings believed to be painted by a male or female), however

independent-samples t-tests revealed none of these to reach significance. (all t’s < 1.55, all

p’s >.131), (see tables 1, 2 and 3 for means).

A repeated measure ANOVA for each of the 28 emotions revealed a series of main

effects and interactions. Due to the large number of analyses computed in this study, only the

relevant significant results are reported, all tables and other results can be found in the

appendix. (see table 4 and 5 for complete list of F-values).

Abstract Paintings

Gender of Artist

For nine of the 28 emotions, the analysis revealed a significant main effect for gender

of artist (see table 4). Three emotions were rated significantly higher in the male abstract

painting than the female abstract painting, these being anger, depression and disgust (all F’s >

4.02; all p’s <.055).

Furthermore, the female abstract painting was rated significantly higher than the male

abstract painting in six emotions, these being admiration, anxiety, awe, happiness, shock and

surprise (all F’s > 3.44; all p’s <.074). (see table 6 for means).

Gender of Participant

For two of the 28 emotions, the analysis revealed a significant main effect for gender

of participant (see table 4). Female participant’s rated abstract paintings significantly higher

in guilt and worry compared to male participants (all F’s > 3.56; all p’s <.069). (see table 7

for means).


Gender of Artist and Perceived Gender of Artist Interaction

Simple main effects analysis revealed that when participants thought the male abstract

painting was painted by a female they rated it as expressing more frustration compared to

when they thought it was painted by its true male artist, t(23), p =.024. (F = 7.79).

Furthermore, when they thought the female abstract painting was painted by a male they

rated it as expressing less surprise compared to when they thought it was painted by its true

female artist, t(28) = 2.17, p =.038. (F = 3.66). (see table 8 for means).

Baroque Paintings

Gender of Artist

For four of the 28 emotions, the analysis revealed a significant main effect for gender

of artist (see table 5). Three emotions were rated significantly higher in the male baroque

painting than the female baroque painting, these being fear, frustration and pride (all F’s >

3.60; all p’s <.068).

Furthermore, loneliness scores for the female baroque painting were significantly

higher than for the male baroque painting, F(1,28) = 4.87, p =.036. (see table 6 for means).


Male participants rated baroque paintings significantly higher in overall emotion than

female participants, t(30) = 2.69, p =.011, no such difference was found for abstract paintings

(p =.395). (see table 9 for means).

More specifically, for five of the 28 emotions, the analysis revealed a significant main

effect for gender of participant (see table 5). Male participants rated baroque paintings

significantly higher in anxiety, embarrassment, happiness, jealousy and resentment compared

to female participants (all F’s > 4.29; all p’s <.048). (see table 7 for means).

Gender of Artist and Perceived Gender of Artist Interaction

Simple main effects analysis revealed that when participants thought the female

baroque painting was painted by a male they rated it as expressing more pride compared to

when they thought it was painted by its true female artist t(30), p =.001 (F = 4.95). (see table

8 for means).


Gender of Artist, Gender of Participant and Perceived Gender of Artist Interaction

The interaction between gender of artist, gender of participant and perceived gender

of artist was significant for the emotion depression, F(1,28) = 3.97, p =.056. The data was

first split by gender of participant to determine whether males a females hold different

stereotypes. A test of between-subjects effects of both the male painting and female baroque

painting revealed an interaction between gender of artist and perceived gender of artist only

for male participants interpreting the female painting, F(1,10) = 4.35, p =.064. Male

participants rated the female baroque painting significantly higher in depression when they

believed it to be painted by a female compared to when they believed it to be painted by a

male. (see table 10 for means).

Discussion

It was predicted that paintings believed to be painted by females would be rated

higher in emotion than those believed to be painted by males. More specifically, it was

predicted that a large number of the emotional stereotypes identified by Fabes and Martin

(1991) and Plant et al. (2000) would appear when interpreting art and that these stereotypes

would in turn be influenced by the painting style being interpreted. In general, the results of

this study highlighted that certain emotions seen to be gender stereotyped in previous

research can also be evoked using the novel method of art interpretation. As such, the

findings reveal some emotions may be more unconsciously stereotyped than others.

Furthermore, the multifaceted property of art interpretation also provided insights into gender

differences in artistic emotion and interpretation.

Gender Differences in Artistic Emotion

A consistent finding in emotional research is that females are more emotionally

expressive than males (e.g. Ashmore & Del Boca, 1979; Johnson & Shulman, 1988). For

example, Parkins (2012) found females to use more emotionally expressive language on

social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The aim of studying the differences

between emotion scores of male and female paintings was to investigate whether females are

indeed more emotionally expressive in other forms of non-verbal expression such as art.

Although no significant differences were found between the overall emotion of male and

female abstract or baroque paintings (table 1), the results revealed a series of emotions that

were rated significantly different in male and female paintings.


Examination of table 6 reveals that the male abstract painting was rated significantly

higher in anger than the female abstract painting whilst the female abstract painting was rated

significantly higher in awe, happiness and surprise. Furthermore, the male baroque painting

was rated significantly higher in pride than the female baroque painting. These results are

consistent with the gender stereotypes of emotional expression held by both males and

females (Fabes & Martin, 1991; Plant et al., 2000) and lead to the suggestion that the same

gender rules which govern emotional expression in everyday situations (Ekman & Friesen,

1975) also, to some extent govern emotional expression in art. Furthermore, the expectancy

of females to display greater levels of negative internalized emotions (Brody & Hall, 2008)

may explain why the emotions anxiety, shock and loneliness were also rated significantly

higher in the female paintings than the male paintings. However, with only four paintings

studied (two male, two female), generalization of these findings should be done with caution.

Gender rules of emotional expression cannot be talked about without questioning the

culture and time that mediate them (Davis et al., 2012). Although gender stereotypes have

long been prominent in societies, for example the Greek philosopher Aristotle described

women as more compassionate than males (as cited in Worell, 2002), one cannot help but

question whether the same stereotypes occurred in the 17th century when the baroque

paintings were created, as they did in the 20th century when the abstract paintings were

created. Furthermore, with strong feminist movements in the 1970’s and 80’s (Stewart &

Dottolo, 2006) the gender stereotyped emotions identified by Fabes and Martin (1991)

alongside Plant et al. (2000) may be not even be accurate for the 1950’s abstract paintings.

The differences in culture and time may explain why eight other emotions were also

identified as significantly different between male and female paintings that are inconsistent

with the current literature on gender stereotypes (table 6).

Gender Differences in the Interpretation of Emotion

Fabes and Martin (1991) found female participants to rate others experiences of both

basic and nonbasic emotions significantly higher than male participants, however no gender

difference was found for the interpretation of others expressions of emotions. Although no

overall gender differences of emotional expression appeared, results of this study indicate

that the style of painting influences the emotionality scores given by males and female

participants. An examination of table 9 reveals that there was no significant difference

between overall emotion scores of male and female participants for abstract paintings


(although females did rate the emotions guilt and worry significantly higher than males; see

table 7), however male participants rated baroque paintings significantly higher in emotion

than female participants.

With the baroque paintings consisting largely of human form, evidence suggests

participants will look to the faces for emotional clues (e.g. Ekman, Friesen & Ellsworth,

1972). Therefore the finding that males rate baroque paintings higher in emotion than

females suggests a gender difference in the interpretation of human facial emotion.

Previous research has also found gender differences in facial expression processing

(FEP) and unlike the present study, results identified females to rate facial expressions higher

in all emotions compared to males (Hall & Matsumoto, 2004). Furthermore, females are

consistently identified as more accurate in FEP (Hall, 1978, 1984) and although the current

study neither supports or contradicts these claims as it does not focus on the accuracy of

emotional interpretation, with FEP such an important feature of human life (Posamentier &

Abdi, 2003), the identification of gender differences in this area is in itself an intriguing

finding.

Studies have implicated a variety of brain structures associated with FEP such as the

temporal cortex, amygdala (Nelson & de Haan, 1997) and the right cerebral hemisphere

(Strauss & Moscovitch, 1981) and with the growing evidence that male and females differ

neurally in the way they experience emotions (e.g. Pennebaker & Roberts, 1992), gender

differences in FEP may be related to how males and females experience emotions. This being

said, the gender differences may simply be the result of participants past experiences of

emotions affecting their current experience, for example Thomas et al (2001) found only

males not females to show a decrease in amygdala activity with repeated exposure to fearful

images. Furthermore, with the evidence that real (photographed) faces and artificial male and

female faces can elicit different interpretations of emotionality (Hess et al., 2004), perhaps

there could be differences in the way males and females interpret real faces (e.g. Hall &

Matsumoto, 2004) or artificial faces (e.g. faces in art) which may explain the novel findings

of this study. However more research needs to be undertaken to develop this theory.

Gender Stereotypes of Emotion

The interactions most useful for highlighting gender stereotypes of emotion are those

between gender of artist and perceived gender of artist, with results generally replicating

previous findings. Paintings believed to be painted by a female were rated higher in emotion


than those perceived to be painted by a male (although this did not reach significance; see

table 3). Specifically, the female abstract painting was rated as expressing less surprise when

the perceived gender was male compared to when it was female. Furthermore, the female

baroque painting was rated as expressing more pride when the perceived gender was male

compared to when it was female.

The identification of pride and surprise as stereotyped emotions provides further

support for the already numerous body of evidence that suggests females are believed to

express surprise more intensely and frequently than males and that males are believed to

express pride more intensely and frequently than females (e.g. Plant et al., 2000; Plant, Kling

& Smith, 2004).

The emotion frustration was also found to be stereotyped in this study, with the male

abstract painting rated higher in frustration when the perceived gender was female rather than

male. Although no gender stereotype of frustration was identified by Fabes and Martin

(1991), current research has identified gender differences, with females seen as more

sensitive to frustration (Zajenkowska, Mylonas, Lawrence, Konopka & Rajchert, 2014) and

perceiving their levels of frustration higher than males (Heinerichs, Curtis & Gardiner-Shires,

2014) suggesting some degree of rationale behind this stereotype. Furthermore, with art

interpretation never before used to explore emotional stereotyping it is unsurprising that the

results revealed some novel findings.

Although males and females are believed to hold similar gender stereotypes of

emotionality (Hutson-Comeaux & Kelly, 2002) examination of table 10 reveals male

participates rated the female baroque painting significantly higher in depression when they

believed it to be painted by a female compared to when they believed it to be painted by a

male. Although it must be noted that the significance was mild (p =.064), this finding is

congruent with research that has consistently identified females as being of greater risk of

depression compared to males (e.g. Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987). The male belief of depression

as a female emotion identified in this study, may account in part for the 2:1 female to male

ratio of the disorder (Sigmon et al., 2005) and supports the views of Conway (2000) that

depressive symptoms are seen as less masculine, driving a reluctance in males to report the

symptoms. Why this finding was only found in a baroque painting and not an abstract

painting is unclear but may have something to do with the presence of faces. Artists often

portray depression through the faces of subjects (Poldinger, 1986) and perhaps these facial


stimuli are needed to elicit gender stereotypes of depression. Furthermore, with this

stereotype found only in a female painting there may be gender differences in how faces are

portrayed in art.

Although this study presents many interesting findings, it is not without its

limitations. The first of which concerns the biographies of the artists that participants read

before interpreting the paintings. Some are perhaps more ‘emotionally laden’ than others

which could have influenced the interpretation of emotionality. For example, calling Rubens

a “great baroque master” may have influenced participants’ male stereotype of pride.

Furthermore, the mention of countries and cities (e.g. Italy, New York) may have evoked any

cultural stereotypes participants held about emotionality. For example, Zeligs (1950) found

subjects to stereotype Italians as ‘jolly’ and ‘gay’. Future research should limit such

stereotype triggers to ensure gender is the only factor influencing emotionality scores.

The issue of culture also raises important questions regarding the universality of

emotions. Although there is empirical evidence that facial expressions of basic emotions such

as fear and surprise can be recognised cross-culturally (Ekman & Friesen, 1971, 1975), there

appears to be cultural differences in the recognition of more complex emotions such as shame

(Izard, 1971). Participant’s ability to recognise emotions would undoubtable influence their

judgements of emotionality, suggesting that controlling for culture may be an important

factor in future research. Furthermore, with gender stereotypes differing across cultures

(Brody & Hall, 2008), some participants may have been reacting to the stimuli in a

stereotypical way, just not one in concurrence to Western ideas of gender and emotion.

Although these limitations raise important methodological issues, they do not undermine the

use of art as an exploratory tool in emotion research.

Traditional views of stereotyping assume that individuals are aware of their biases and

can control them (Fiske, 1998), however there is growing literature that suggests stereotypes

can occur outside of conscious control (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). By obscuring the true

nature of the study by using art interpretation instead of simply asking participants directly

for example “the frequency with which they believed typical adult women express the 25

emotions listed” (Fabes & Martin, 1991, p.534) highlights the extent to which the emotions

pride, surprise and frustration are unconsciously stereotyped by both males and females and

depression as a unique unconscious stereotype held only by males because they were elicited

unintentionally and involuntary; key components of an unconscious process (Bargh, 1994).


These findings suggest that art interpretation (as well as providing insights into gender

differences in emotional expression and interpretation) may serve as an alternative to the

popular implicit-association test (IAT) (Greenwald, McGhee & Schwartz, 1998) for

uncovering unconscious stereotypes about gender and emotionality. Indeed with the many

negative outcomes of gender stereotypes (e.g. Wright, 1977) and with evidence that

awareness of the nature of IAT can influence the results (Wallaert, Ward & Mann, 2010),

perhaps it is time for a new, subtler method of data collection such as the one used in this

study.


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Appendix


Table 2

Mean Male and Female Basic and Nonbasic Emotion

Scores for Abstract and Baroque Paintings Combined (SD)

Type of Emotion

Gender of Participant Basic Nonbasic

Male 2.35 (.95) 2.38 (.85)

Female 2.18 (.73) 2.24 (.82)

Table 3

Mean Emotion Scores for the

Perceived Artist Genders of

Abstract and Baroque Paintings Combined (SD)

Perceived Gender

of Artist Emotion Score

Male 2.25 (.92)

Female 2.35 (.92)


Table 6Mean Emotion Scores for Gender of

Artist (SD) Style of Gender of Artist Painting Emotion Male Female Abstract Admiration 0.87 (1.18) 1.50 (1.61) Anger 3.75 (2.23) 2.34 (1.82) Anxiety 3.19 (1.86) 3.97 (2.06) Awe 1.00 (1.39) 1.94 (1.85) Depression 3.97 (2.07) 2.87 (2.21) Disgust 2.44 (2.06) 1.50 (1.63) Happiness .81 (1.12) 1.59 (1.43) Shock 1.69 (1.18) 2.94 (1.78) Surprise 1.25 (1.32) 2.78 (1.98) Baroque Fear 3.66 (2.32) 2.13 (2.06) Frustration 2.72 (2.05) 1.19 (1.38) Loneliness 0.94 (1.37) 1.78 (1.68) Pride 2.97 (1.98) 2.00 (1.80)

Table 7Mean Emotion Scores for Gender of

Participant (SD) Style of Gender of Participant Painting Emotion Male Female Abstract Guilt 1.46 (1.18) 2.60 (1.29)

Worry 2.33 (1.48) 3.43 (1.64)

Baroque Anxiety 3.17 (1.45) 1.65 (1.35)Embarrassment 2.04 (1.47) .93 (.80)Happiness 2.08 (1.18) .95 (.93)Jealousy 2.71 (.99) 2.00 (1.45)Resentment 2.75 (1.52) 1.48 (1.41)


Table 8Mean Emotion Scores for the Gender of Artist and

Perceived Gender of Artist Interactions (SD)

Perceived Gender Style of Gender of of ArtistPainting Emotion Artist True FalseAbstract Frustration Male 2.69 (2.44) 4.38 (1.36)

Female 4.38 (2.33) 3.25 (2.29)Surprise Male 1.25 (1.24) 1.25 (1.44)

Female 3.50 (2.13) 2.06 (1.57)

Baroque Pride Male 3.13 (2.13) 2.81 (1.87)Female 1.00 (1.10) 3.00 (1.83)

Table 9

Mean Male and Female Participant Emotion Scores for

Abstract and Baroque Paintings (SD)

Style of Painting Gender of Participant Mean Emotion

Score

Abstract Male 2.11 (1.00)

Female 2.40 (.84)

Baroque Male 2.63 (.051)

Female 2.05 (.633)


Table 10

Mean Emotion Scores for the Gender of Artist, Gender of Participant

and Perceived Gender of Artist Three-way Interactions (SD)


Male Female

Gender of Perceived Gender Perceived Gender

Emotion Artist True False True False

Depression Male 1.67 (2.08) 2.22 (2.28) 1.38 (2.02) .86 (.90)

Female 3.33 (2.52) 1.11 (1.27) 1.62 (2.18) 1.43 (1.35)

*basic emotions (anger, fear, happiness, love, sadness and surprise)


Results not reported in the study

1. Though not of particular interest to this study, abstract paintings were rated

significantly higher in pride and sympathy when the perceived gender of the painter

was true compared to when it was false (all F’s > 4.25; all p’s < .049) and baroque

paintings were rated significantly higher in fear, sadness and worry when the

perceived gender of the artist was false compared to when it was true (all F’s > 4.77;

all p’s < .037). When the 28 emotions were grouped into basic and nonbasic

emotions, results revealed that the baroque paintings were rated significantly higher in

basic emotions when the perceived gender was false compared to when it was true,

t(30) = 2.69, p <.001. (see table 11 for means).

2. Furthermore, male participants rated the male abstract painting significantly higher in

disgust (M = 3.33, SD = 2.23) than the female abstract painting (M = 1.17, SD = 1.64),

t(11) = 3.86, p = .003

Table 11Mean Emotion Scores for the Perceived

Gender of Artist (SD)

Perceived Gender Style of of Artist Painting Emotion True False Abstract Pride 1.91 (1.43) 1.03 (.97)

Sympathy 2.00 (1.15) 1.09 (1.28)

Baroque Basic* 2.06 (.52) 2.82 (.56)Fear 2.19 (.95) 3.60 (1.42)Sadness 2.16 (1.30) 3.25 (1.02)Worry 2.78 (1.51) 4.09 (1.69)


3. For ratings of distress, perceived gender only had an effect on female participants

with female participants rating baroque paintings higher in distress when the

perceived gender of artist was true compared to when it was false F(1,28) = 4.85, p

=.036. However, for ratings of fear, perceived gender only had an effect on male

participants with male participants rating baroque paintings higher in fear when the

perceived gender was false compared to when it was true. F(1,28) = 10.25, p = .003.

(see table 12 for means).

Table 12Mean Emotion Scores for the Gender of

Participant and Perceived Gender of Baroque

Artist Significant Interactions (SD)

Perceived Gender

Gender of of Artist

Emotion Participant True False

Distress Male 3.33 (2.08) 4.89 (1.45)

Female 4.00 (1.51) 2.50 (1.00)

Fear Male 1.50 (.87) 4.00 (1.37)

Female 2.35 (.92) 3.07 (1.40)


James Brooks (1906 – 1992) is an American abstract expressionist painter who studied at the

Art Students League in New York. His first solo exhibition was held at the Peridot Gallery

New York in 1949.

James Brooks (1957)

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/T/T00/T00253_10.jpg


Perle Fine (1908-1988) is an American female abstract expressionist painter who studied at

the Art Students League. She had her first solo exhibition in New York in 1945 and was one

of the young talents and few women promoted by Hilla Rebay and the Guggenheim Museum.

Perle Fine (1958)

https://sites.google.com/site/newyorkschoolactionpainting/home/Perle%20Fine%20Roaring%20Wind%201958.jpg?attredirects=0


Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was a Flemish artist famous for his paintings, tapestries,

altar pieces and decorative ceilings. His art training began with an apprenticeship to Tobias

Verhaecht, a landscape painter, where he quickly grew to become a great baroque master.

Peter Paul Rubens (1618)


Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was an Italian baroque painter. Born in Rome, the only

daughter of painter Orazio Gentileshi, Artemisia was one of the first women artists to achieve

recognition in the male-dominated world of post-Renaissance art.

Artemisia Gentileschi (1622-1623)


Age: Gender:

Fear 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Sadness 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Anger 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Surprise 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Love 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Happiness 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Sympathy 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Pride 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Hate 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Loneliness 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Jealousy 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Embarrassment 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Guilt 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Distress 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Depression 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Anxiety 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Frustration 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Sorrow 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Worry 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Admiration 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Resentment 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Regret 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Joy 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Shock 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Concern 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Awe 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Disgust 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Shyness 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Please rate the degree to which you think each emotion is being expressed by the artist in the painting. With 0 being ‘none’ and 7 being ‘a lot’.


Participant Information Sheet

Study: Exploring the emotions portrayed in art

You are invited to participate in a study investigating the different emotions portrayed in paintings. The study will take about 20 minutes to complete for which you will gain 2 RPS credits.

You will receive two paintings by different artists and will be asked to first read the short biography about the artist before rating the degree to which you think each emotion is being displayed on the 28-item questionnaire.

Any information collected from you will be coded so as to maintain your anonymity. Furthermore, it should be highlighted that this study is entirely voluntary and you are free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason if you so wish.

If you have any further questions/queries about this study you are welcome to contact the researcher at: [email protected].


Participant Consent Form

Study: Exploring the emotions portrayed in art

Have you read the information sheet? Yes No

Have you had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the study?

Yes No

Have you received satisfactory answers to all your questions? Yes No

To whom have you spoken? (write name) …………………………………………….......

Do you understand that you are free to withdraw from the study at any time, without having to give a reason?

Yes No

Do you agree to take part in the study? Yes No

Do you understand that this form may be examined by an Ethics Committee as part of the monitoring process

Yes No

Your Name in Block Capital Letters: ………………………………………………………

Signature Date

Name of person obtaining consent …………………………………………………...

Signature Date

Dept of Applied Social SciencesCanterbury Christ Church UniversityCanterbury, Kent CT1 1QU

Jonathan Ketley Dissertation

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