GENDER/SEX DIFFERENCES IN ENJOYMENT OF THREAT-RELATED IMAGES AND CONSIDERATIONS OF APPROACH-AVOIDANCE AND RESILIENCE TRAITS
Open Access
- Author:
- Strand, Natalie
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology (MS)
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- August 23, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Reginald Adams, Jr., Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Jes Matsick, Committee Member
Kristin Buss (She/Her), Program Head/Chair
Koraly Elisa Perez-Edgar, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Threat Perception
Emotion
Gender/sex
Resilience
Approach-Avoidance - Abstract:
- The goal of the current work was to investigate how gender/sex differences in responses to threat-related images are influenced by approach and avoidance personality traits (i.e., behavioral inhibition and activation: BIS/BAS) and psychological resilience. Past research indicates that people regularly engage in high-risk activities that threaten physical safety (e.g., extreme sports). However, there is a limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms that drive interest and enjoyment of potential threats, and specifically how they relate to differences in responses between men and women. I sought to investigate how BIS/BAS traits are related to gender/sex differences in reactions to images depicting high potential harm/risk. Based on past literature and an initial pilot study, I predicted that men would enjoy threat-related images more than women, and that this would be at least partially influenced by gender/sex differences in BIS/BAS, specifically behavioral inhibition. I also predicted a positive relationship between psychological resilience and enjoyment of threats. Critically, in an image ratings task (Study 1), I found that men reported feeling more positive while viewing threat images compared to women, and this difference was partially driven by women reporting higher BIS scores than men. In Study 2, participants were presented with the same threat-related images and asked to choose between a threat-related image and a neutral alternative. Men chose to view the threat-related images more often than women, however gender/sex differences in choice behavior were not related to BIS/BAS. Limitations and future directions are discussed, with a particular focus on considerations of examining different dimensions of personality that affect threat enjoyment and exploring threat enjoyment in individuals with threat-related affective disorders.