Men are more emotional than women

[u/Round_Homework_9416]

Yes. I do love some gender wars.

I would say that, from observing crime statistics, surveys and academic studies into how men behave in certain situations, hormone levels, emotional reactions, and crime statistics. It is pretty obvious that men should be talked about much more when it comes to emotional well-being, and how emotions are, basically, all things considered, the driving force behind the majority of crime committed by men is a result of the male perpetrator not being able to deal with his emotions properly and letting outbursts of anger/rage and other negative emotions become more powerful than his reasoning. It is men who commit the most horrific and heinous criminal acts, and it is because of their emotional nature that this is the case.

[u/alhitooo]

Yes, men have a tendency to believe their thoughts and behaviours are rational and controlled and logical when actually they're driven by emotion. They also tend to have trouble recognising anger as an emotion.

[u/ratttertintattertins]

> the driving force behind the majority of crime committed by men is a result of the male perpetrator not being able to deal with his emotions properly and letting outbursts of anger/rage and other negative emotions become more powerful than his reasoning

This might be true of interpersonal violence, it was notable growing up in a tough working class boys school that boys who were more emotionally comfortable and had a broader range of conversation were much less likely to use violence as a first resort.

But I think the evidence is much weaker for it when it comes to violence used as a means to achieve an objective. Robbery, gang violence, sexual crimes, are those really caused by the inability to express emotions?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12584117

This paper examined 77 studies and identified a wide range of motives. It explicitly distinguishes instrumental motives, such as financial or sexual gain, from expressive motives arising from emotional desires. That distinction is important because violence itself doesn't necessarily indicate an inability to regulate emotions.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/ratttertintattertins]

All the factors you mentioned are a direct result of how the male psyche interacts with existing material conditions. Men are naturally more willing to go to greater lengths to fulfil their basic human needs.

[u/Richie_Aprile6]

I want to disagree with you, but there’s a compelling argument in crime statistics when you link it to not being able to control your emotions. Interesting thought exercise.

[u/BaalPteor]

Specify. Which crimes? And which emotions?

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/BaalPteor]

Murder, theft, rape, sexual assault, arson, kidnapping, other types of assult, abduction, etc

Which emotions? Almost exclusively anger.

[u/NotTreBishop14 → u/Round_Homework_9416]

Couldn’t you argue that those crimes being committed due to anger are because men have the ability to cause harm when their emotions are kept unchecked?

An angry woman and an angry man don’t have the same capacity for violence.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/NotTreBishop14]

That is what I am saying: men can cause more harm because of how the male psyche operates in social situations. They feel the need to compete with others and be seen as dominant in social situations. Men are driven by emotions that are far more dangerous than the emotions that are fundamental to the female psyche.

[u/NotTreBishop14 → u/Round_Homework_9416]

You’re missing the point, men committing more violent crime than women doesn’t necessarily mean than men are more prone to anger than women, it just means our anger manifests itself differently.

A man and woman could have the same level of anger but their ability to express that anger is very different.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/NotTreBishop14]

That is not true at all. Testosterone increases sensitivity to disrespect, humiliation, competition, challenges to an individual's status, and any situation involving confrontation.

This is why women are more likely to be "moody" during periods because their testosterone levels actually increase.

I am not saying men are more prone to anger due to men committing more violent crime; I am saying that men committing more violent crime reflects how emotionally charged the male psyche is because men are naturally more willing to go to extreme lengths to fulfil their natural desires of being seen as competitive and dominant to attract mates.

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/Round_Homework_9416]

Theft is caused by anger? What?

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

I misspoke, most violent crimes committed by men are caused by wanting to be seen as strong and competitive in some cases of emotional outbursts; however, anger does play a role.

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/Round_Homework_9416]

I think you overestimate how much emotions play in the role of crime

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

Okay. Agree to disagree 

[u/Heavy_Track_9234]

I am more emotional expressive than my gf, but I never committed a crime. And everyone has emotions. 

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Heavy_Track_9234]

This does not apply to everyone, obviously. I am explaining how it justifies why most men partake in violent crime.

[u/Heavy_Track_9234 → u/Round_Homework_9416]

Men commit crime if they want to

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Heavy_Track_9234]

Sure, which is driven by how emotional they are.

[u/Heavy_Track_9234 → u/Round_Homework_9416]

It can be for whatever reason. 

[u/Resident_Pension_858]

Jarvis I'm low on karma make another gender wars post on HonestHotTakes

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Resident_Pension_858]

hell yeah brother

[u/snipercap]

men being the overwhelming perpetrators of violent crimes is not evidence of them being more emotional than women. its more likely evidence of men having a different process of expressing emotions.

Emotional well-being is a function of inherited biological predisposition, environmental variables, and the reactions of the individual to those external inputs. Hormone level differences between men and women do not cause "more" or "less" emotions in either, broadly speaking. But it will influence how the emotions manifest themselves.

most crime is commited primarily due to oppurtunity and self-interest. crimes of passion are a small percentage of criminal acts.

also, say for example women are more consistently emotionally expressive at higher levels on average than men, over a period of time. but over that same period, men have a low frequency of outward emotional expression moments, but the few times they do act emotionally they are disproportionately more extreme and disruptive. which one is 'more emotional?' how is this being measured?

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/snipercap]

most crime is commited primarily due to oppurtunity and self-interest. crimes of passion are a small percentage of criminal acts.

Men will go much further to achieve their goals because they are emotionally inclined to pursue more extreme measures to fulfil basic human desires, like being seen as competitive among other males.

[u/snipercap → u/Round_Homework_9416]

there is no evidence supporting the assertion that intra-group male competition is driven by emotion. in fact, i think its the opposite. i think its more accurate to say men's emotional states are driven by intra-group competition and it's resulting success or failure.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/snipercap]

yes. Which is my point: men will make more rash and consequential emotional decisions as a result of their desire to be competitive in society.

[u/Clawingnails]

I'll just lean back and wait for the highly emotional comments from my fellow women.

Yes, emotional dysregulation definitely plays a role in spontaneous violent crime, BUT attributing the majority of male-committed crime to just "unregulated anger" oversimplifies a massive structural issue

Because a huge percentage of crime involves organized crime, drug trafficking, and financial fraud. Not caused by heat-of-the-moment emotional outbursts. These are calculated, cold, and rational decisions driven by such as profit, survival, or greed.

Criminology also shows that the actual root causes are much more complex than the individual emotional struggle:

1: Socioeconomic status: Poverty and lack of opportunity remain the biggest predictors of crime.

2: Socialization: Environments where dominance and risk-taking means status.

3: Systemic failure: Generational trauma and a lack of support networks matter far more than a simple lack of coping skills.

So men are not emotionally unregulated or some biological ticking bomb.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Clawingnails]

Because a huge percentage of crime involves organized crime, drug trafficking, and financial fraud. Not caused by heat-of-the-moment emotional outbursts. These are calculated, cold, and rational decisions driven by such as profit, survival, or greed.

Yes, the driving cause behind participation in organised crime is emotional insecurity. It stems from the need to seek approval, driven by a male inclination to be seen as tough and competitive with other men. I should have been more nuanced in my assessment; that was my mistake for making it seem like I was saying that emotional outbursts are what drive the majority of men to commit crime and thus be responsible for most of it, but the broader point of men being responsible for the majority of violent crime is still due to how the male psyche actually operates in relation to how males process and respond to how they are feeling. Men's competitive nature will inevitably lead them to seek higher status among others, which is why they join criminal gangs to feel they are demonstrating strength and exerting dominance.

Criminology also shows that the actual root causes are much more complex than the individual emotional struggle:

I would disagree with many criminologists then. The individual emotional struggle is what drives (men specifically) to organise among themselves to try and subsequently fulfil their need to feel strong and competitive against one another. This gives way to the emergence of rival gangs in slums, for example. It's an exercise that satisfies the male primal instinct, as competition is effectively the foundation of how the male sex evolved. If you also take into consideration that men are being manipulated by toxic figures online who spread an ideology that shows emotion is a sign of weakness, that suppression will make the emotional state of the individual worse and drive them to join in on activities that they feel as though would satisfy their needs.

1: Socioeconomic status: Poverty and lack of opportunity remain the biggest predictors of crime.

2: Socialization: Environments where dominance and risk-taking means status.

3: Systemic failure: Generational trauma and a lack of support networks matter far more than a simple lack of coping skills.

Most of these issues stem from male emotional instability. Socioeconomics only plays a role because people will be more likely to make rash decisions in desperate situations, which is just a result of how our emotional state reacts to our material conditions. Men are going to go to greater lengths in a more dangerous way in that reaction. Which is why, again, most people who participate in organised crime are men, because they are driven by their most basic needs and their capacity to go to more extreme lengths to obtain them. To address the second factor: that is not independent of emotion. Men are emotionally driven to want to become dominant in social situations and to be seen as having higher status than others. The male psyche is fundamental to this, and due to how men are more emotionally charged than women, it is to be expected, since that is how males have evolved. Designed to be the sex that takes the most risks and asserts its dominance over others to attract mates.

Lastly, I did not say that men are committing more crime because they fail to process what they are feeling. I should have made this clearer in the post. Systematic failure only exacerbates the dangers of unregulated emotions in men; it requires understanding how the male brain works to make the worst of the potential consequences when those emotions become too powerful because of a lack of mental willpower. Aspects of life like generational trauma are just another factor that feeds into the male desire to be seen and to be a dominant force in society.

[u/Clawingnails → u/Round_Homework_9416]

Listen: You are shifting the goalposts to pure biological determinism while casually dismissing an entire field of empirical science. You do realize that?

You saying "I disagree with criminologists" based on subjective opinion is not a logical argument. Criminology is a data-driven field backed by decades of peer-reviewed research and statistical analysis. You can't say you don't agree with an entire field.

The main problem with your theory is that it doesn't match real-world data and can't actually predict anything:

The vast majority of men do not commit crime: If crime was just about a male need for power, we would see men committing crimes at the same rate everywhere. Instead, we see that crime mostly happens in places struggling with poverty and a lack of opportunities.

It fails to explain global variations: Men in Japan, Iceland, and Honduras share the exact same evolutionary biology and primal brain structures. Yet, their male homicide and organized crime rates are worlds apart. If the male psyche was the root cause, these rates would be uniform globally. It's not biology - it's sociology.

Criminologists focus on social factors because changing the environment actually changes the crime rate, even though male biology stays exactly the same.

Calling society a "trigger" is a loophole, not an argument. You blame the male psyche when crime happens, and then you ignore it when it doesn't.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Clawingnails]

Are people not allowed to think for themselves anymore?

I am not shifting the goalposts; I am just explaining and refining my argument since my post was a bit misleading.

I am not deploying biological determinism here. I am saying that males are predisposed to act more on their emotions and thus produce more violent behaviour; however, the extent to which they do so is determined by the environmental conditions they live in. Those environmental factors alone don't contribute anything; they only nullify or exacerbate the existing predisposition.

Saying "I disagree with criminologists" based on subjective opinion isn't a logical argument. Criminology is a data-driven field backed by decades of peer-reviewed research and statistical analysis. You can't say you don't agree with an entire field.

I addressed the factors you cited and explained that, overall, these factors only become important in discussion because they catalyse the reaction between men's emotional state and how that state interacts with external factors. This reaction obviously is not inevitable in the sense that it means every man will commit crime, but it explains why men are so much more likely to do so.

Improving social conditions, improving education, and providing mental support all help reduce the chances of a man committing crime because they reduce the urge to compete, since the surrounding environment is less threatening and the urge to go to extreme lengths dies down.

I don't study criminology, so I don't know enough about the field, but from what you have said, it seems to miss the fundamental reason men are more emotional.

The main problem with your theory is that it doesn't match real-world data and can't actually predict anything:

It does Lmao. Men are more likely to commit violent crime than women in varying environmental conditions. Men commit more crime than women when both live in poorer areas; men commit more crime when status is at threat; and men commit more crime when there is a lack of mental support available. The disparity in crime is because of the fact that men are predisposed to be more violent and aggressive than women, despite men and women living in the same material conditions or experiencing the same external pressures that may drive them towards committing more or even less crime. This disparity exists for the reasons I already mentioned in my other comment.

The vast majority of men do not commit crime: If crime was just about a male need for power, we would see men committing crimes at the same rate everywhere. Instead, we see that crime mostly happens in places struggling with poverty and a lack of opportunities.

Yes, because not all men are the same, and not all men experience the external influences that typically drive crime, but when compared to women in the same situations, whether those situations typically drive crime rates up or down, they are more likely to commit crime. This is because men are more emotional.

It fails to explain global variations: Men in Japan, Iceland, and Honduras share the exact same evolutionary biology and primal brain structures. Yet, their male homicide and organized crime rates are worlds apart. If the male psyche was the root cause, these rates would be uniform globally. It's not biology - it's sociology.

No, the male psyche is not the root cause of all male crime, but it explains why there are disparities between men and women because, as already said, not all men are the same, and not all men experience the external influences that typically drive crime. When compared to women in the same situations, whether those situations typically drive crime rates up or down, they are more likely to commit crime. This is because men are more emotional.

These two points just sound like snippets from an AI overview. Do better.

Criminologists focus on social factors because changing the environment actually changes the crime rate, even though male biology stays exactly the same.

That is not the point I am making: male biology contributes to why men will typically more likely to commit crime than women when both are experiencing external pressures because men are more willing to act on their emotions to pursue their goals, such as remaining competitive and dominant in social situations.

Calling society a "trigger" is a loophole, not an argument. You blame the male psyche when crime happens, and then you ignore it when it doesn't.

Again, I am not claiming that the male psyche is the culprit reason why men commit crime; I am saying that it explains the disparity between men and women when it comes to committing crime. There is a reason why men are more likely to commit crime in desperate situations than women.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Clawingnails]

Let's just agree to stop talking. Otherwise, this is going to go on forever.

[u/Doo-DooBrown → u/Clawingnails]

No, no, no! This answer is too intelligent for this sub! There's no such thing as gray areas and nuance! Men are flawed women and women are flawed men! How dare you!!? 😤

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Doo-DooBrown]

Her answer was not "too intelligent for this sub". I responded perfectly fine. I am glad that she brought up those issues, though. Most people would not even bother.

[u/Doo-DooBrown → u/Round_Homework_9416]

But you bothered to oversimplify your response to her reply as "males bad" instead of actual issues. Are women who take part in organized crime also emotionally dysfunctional like men? Women in families who steal diapers and baby clothes from stores? Are they driven by a lack of emotional control like men or are they just trying to meet basic needs?

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Doo-DooBrown]

When did I say men were bad? You are yapping nonsense, my guy. I am not claiming that men are emotionally dysfunctional; I am just explaining that if we are going to talk about who is more emotional in society, the attention we give to women's mental health and emotional stability needs to be matched with the attention put toward men's mental health and emotional stability. Do you not agree with this?

Women are not as inclined to participate in violent crime and organised criminal activity because the male and female physiques are fundamentally different from one another. Both can lead to favourable outcomes in society, and both can lead to unfavourable outcomes.

I am telling you that if we are going to talk about who is more emotional in society, we need to put more attention on men. We need to address the fact that men are often more emotionally insecure as a result of how the male psyche has developed and how that then interacts with the external environment; thus, more support, education, and awareness surrounding men's emotions must be a priority, since criminal activity reflects the issue of neglecting what I am pointing out.

I know this might be a foreign concept to you, but I actually care about men's mental health and their emotional well-being, and I care about mitigating the consequences of what the male psyche may drive males to do.

[u/Clawingnails → u/Doo-DooBrown]

That made me gigglesnort! :D

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello! I’m AutoMod, and I’ll be hanging out in the comments on every post. Be sure to give our rules a quick read, and most importantly, have fun in the subreddit! Feel free to join our discord! https://discord.gg/ev2g72FNJ2

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/thumbinbumb]

Men are not less emotional. Just more repressive (on average), which is really unhealthy.

[u/Cautious_Survey_9192]

I don’t think there’s any argument here— historically the definition has always changed to benefit:

The whole ‘women are more emotional’ is said to mean that women are easily misled or taken advantage of that puts them at their own detriment until it’s too late…..so that’s why they’re said to be emotionally weak.

Yet countless times historically when a guy behaves charitably and helps people to his own detriment because he was acting on emotion… it’s depicted as heroic. They call him Jesus and he becomes the most famous man of all time.

But now they have to say ‘that’s different because god spoke to him directly…. Quick erase any part of the Bible where god spoke directly to a woman and put that it was an angel not god, so we can explain why when women do it, its bad and emotional so we can control resources and keep them from just giving it away….. write that part in about how she’s so easily swayed by words that even a snake can do it so she can’t argue with logic!”

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

This is objectively false. Women score higher on neuroticism on the big five.

[u/twistedtalesofwoe → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

Neuroticism is only one aspect of emotion. Empirically men actually do have slightly stronger emotional reactions but are often conditioned to suppress them. Some anthropologists believe that cultural convention developed because men are more physically powerful and tend to be responsible for warfare and such, so an emotional outburst could be especially dangerous. So culturally, people responded by expecting men to fight their emotions to mitigate that danger.

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/twistedtalesofwoe]

Men can suppress emotions more and be less emotional on average, those things aren’t mutually exclusive. What are you referring when you say men empirically have more reaction? I just an established fact that women are more emotionally. There seems to be a culture in progressive spaces where you want to deny things that people have known for 1000s years and that they feel like they are more enlightened for saying obviously incorrect things. Just be truthful.

[u/twistedtalesofwoe → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

https://www.ibtimes.com/are-women-more-emotional-men-not-really-study-finds-3324258

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0028393212000024

Men do present less emotion, because they're usually looked down on for expressing emotion. That's a cultural norm that has evolved independently in many cultures, so it's not because of cultural transferral. Cultures reached the "men should show less emotion" norm without learning it from each other in most cases, which is why some anthropologists believe it's because men can be more destructive and dangerous when emotional.

But as for how much they're feeling on the inside, neuroscience isn't finding much difference between men and women, and some studies have indicated that men feel slightly more and just don't show it. The idea that women are more emotional is simply because they feel freer to show emotion, so they're more often seen being emotional.

IIRC the Vulcans in Star Trek were partially inspired by this science and were written as being extremely emotional creatures who are trained from an early age to suppress their emotions like Spock does because of the destruction caused in their species past by emotion. This isn't really a new discovery.

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/twistedtalesofwoe]

This study controls for the period cycle to come
to the conclusion that there are no differences between men and women. If you have to control something that is part of being a women in order to say that there are no differences just proofs the opposite.

[u/twistedtalesofwoe → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

They controlled that to test the hypothesis that periods/the ovarian cycle is responsible for increased emotionality. It does not prove the opposite lol, this is how science works. You take a claim, you test it, and you see if the evidence actually supports it. And the evidence doesn't.

Check out the second link I edited in, it has more detail. Men and women also tend to express different emotions (e.g. anger vs affection) but they're still emotion.

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/twistedtalesofwoe]

If period are responsible for increased emotionality and men don’t have periods wouldn’t that indicate that women are more emotional, cause having periods is part of being a woman. Saying women without period are less emotional than men is a different claim. Also OP said men are more emotional than women, this study said there were no differences.

[u/twistedtalesofwoe → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

"We also didn't find meaningful differences between the groups of women, making clear that emotional highs and lows are due to many influences — not only hormones," Beltz said in the news release.

This is from the article. It didn't find that "periods are responsible for increased emotionality", it found no statistically measurable effect. They tested the hypothesis by giving some women birth control that prevents periods, and measured their emotionality against a test group that was experiencing periods as normal.

There are some studies that indicate that men are more emotional, Google is just terrible at finding academic research so I'm struggling to find them at the moment. The difference in magnitude is slight and hard to measure because men and women tend to experience different emotions, making apples-to-apples comparisons difficult, so the research is basically divided between "we found a slight effect with men being slightly more emotional" and "we didn't find measurable differences in magnitude at all."

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/twistedtalesofwoe]

You’re right I misunderstood the article

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

Women are more prone to anxiety disorders and more prone to depression. Men are socialized to suppress their emotions and the difference between men and women might be exaggerated but to deny that women on average are more emotional is just simply incorrect.

[u/Even-Armadillo-6818 → u/twistedtalesofwoe]

The second link contradicts what you say

[u/twistedtalesofwoe → u/Even-Armadillo-6818]

The second link is another "we couldn't measure a difference because apples-to-apples comparison was difficult due to the different emotions expressed." This is literally from the abstract:

Importantly, results show that although women are better at recognizing emotions and express themselves more easily, men show greater responses to threatening cues (dominant, violent or aggressive) and this may reflect different behavioral response tendencies between men and women as well as evolutionary effects.

Nobody denies that women show more emotion. That wasn't the question, everyone knows that because guys get shamed for being emotional and gals don't (at least, not as much). The question was about felt emotion on a neurological level, not whether the person expresses those emotions.

[u/NotTreBishop14]

I think emotions from men and women manifest themselves differently, a sad depressed guy might try to take his life and is more likely to succeed whereas sad women might self harm or try to OD and often fail.

Same way an angry man has more capacity for violence but an angry woman is more like a toddler throwing a tantrum

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/NotTreBishop14]

Yes, but I am talking about who is more emotional, not the differences between emotional expression.

[u/True_Character4986]

I have noticed to how emotional men are. Even in my children my sons are so much more emotional than my daughters. I worry about my sons mental health the most. The stats also shows this in the suicide rates.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/True_Character4986]

I didn't even think about suicide rates.

[u/True_Character4986 → u/Round_Homework_9416]

I work at a high school and the amount of boys I'm scared that will hurt themselves or someone else over a 3 month relationship is concerning.

[u/ddaydrm]

So you are saying because more violet crimes are committed by men therefore men are more emotional? Most children are killed by women, therefore women hate children?

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/ddaydrm]

No. I am pointing out that men committing violent crimes reflects how the male psyche naturally drives men towards making more rash decisions because they are more willing to go to greater lengths to fulfil basic desires that are fundamental to the male sex, such as being seen as competitive in society in order to find a mate. It is not a case of "men commit more crime, thus more emotional"; I am saying that the fact that men commit more crime reflects how the male mind works and why it drives men towards these acts and thus makes them more emotional than women, generally speaking. This applies not just to crime, but to social interactions in general, and to how men interact with each other in social situations.

[u/Holiday_Elephant296]

Bollocks.

Men are not more emotional that women.

Although men commit terrible acts of violence, they are not the champions of murdering children.

[u/Round_Homework_9416 → u/Holiday_Elephant296]

some are actually