Abstract
This study was designed to revisit the response bias hypothesis, which posits that gender differences in depression prevalence rates may reflect a tendency for men to underreport depressive symptoms. In this study, we examined aspects of gender role socialization (gender-related traits, socially desirable responding, beliefs about mental health and depression) that may contribute to a response bias in self-reports of depression. In addition, we investigated the impact of two contextual variables (i.e., cause of depression and level of intrusiveness of experimental follow-up) on self-reports of depressive symptoms. Results indicated that men, but not women, reported fewer depressive symptoms when consent forms indicated that a more involved follow-up might occur. Further, results indicated differential responding by men and women on measures of gender-related traits, mental health beliefs, and beliefs about depression and predictors of depressed mood. Together, our results support the assertion that, in specific contexts, a response bias explanation warrants further consideration in investigations of gender differences in rates of self-reported depression.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., & Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49–74.
Barrett, L. F., Robin, L., Pietromonaco, P. R., & Eyssell, K. M. (1998). Are women the ‘more emotional’ sex? Evidence from emotional experience in social context. Cognition and Emotion, 12, 555–578.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive type of sex typing. Psychological Review, 88, 354–364.
Berman, P. W. (1980). Are women more responsive than men to the young? A review of developmental and situational variables. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 668–695.
Bonebright, T. L., Thompson, J. L., & Leger, D. W. (1996). Gender stereotypes in the expression and perception of vocal affect. Sex Roles, 34, 429–445.
Brody, L. R. (2000). The socialization of gender differences in emotional expression: Display rules, infant temperament, and differentiation. In A. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 24–47). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Brody, L. R., & Hall, J. A. (1993). Gender and emotion. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 447–460). New York: Guilford Press.
Brody, L. R., & Hall, J. A. (2000). Gender, emotion, and expression. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 338–349). New York: Guilford Press.
Broverman, I., Vogel, S., Broverman, D., Clarkson, F. E., & Rosenkrantz, P. S. (1972). Gender-role stereotypes: A current appraisal. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 59–78.
Bryson, S. E., & Pilon, D. J. (1984). Gender differences in depression and the method of administering the Beck Depression Inventory. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, 529–534.
Chevron, E. S., Quinlan, D. M., & Blatt, S. J. (1978). Gender roles and gender differences in the experience of depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 680–683.
Clancy, K., & Gove, W. (1974). Gender differences in mental illness: An analysis of response bias in self-reports. American Journal of Sociology, 80, 205–216.
Conway, M. (2000). On sex roles and representations of emotional experience: Masculinity, femininity, and emotional awareness. Sex Roles, 43, 687–698.
Fabes, R., & Martin, C. (1991). Gender and age stereotypes of emotionality. Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 532–540.
Fischer, A. H. (1993). Sex differences in emotionality: Fact or stereotype? Feminism and Psychology, 3, 303–318.
Fischer, A. H., & Manstead, A. S. R. (2000). The relation between gender and emotions in different cultures. In A. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 71–94). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gladstone, T., & Koenig, L. J. (1994). Sex differences in depression across the high school to college transition. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23, 643–669.
Golding, J. M. (1988). Gender differences in depressive symptoms. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 12, 61–74.
Grant, K., Marsh, P., Syniar, G., Williams, M., Addlesperger, E., Kinzler, M. H., et al. (2002). Gender differences in rates of depression among undergraduates: Measurement matters. Journal of Adolescence, 25, 613–617.
Hammen, C. L., & Peters, S. D. (1977). Differential responses to male and female depressive reactions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45, 994–1001.
Hankin, B., & Abramson, L. Y. (2002). Measuring cognitive vulnerability to depression in adolescence: Reliability, validity, and gender differences. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31(4), 491–504.
Helmreich, R. L., Spence, J. T., & Wilhelm, J. A. (1981). A psychometric analysis of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Sex Roles, 7, 1097–1108.
Jakupcak, M., Salters, K., Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2003). Masculinity and emotionality: An investigation of men's primary and secondary emotional responding. Sex Roles, 49, 111–120.
Kelly, J. R., & Hutson-Comeaux, S. L. (1999). Gender-emotion stereotypes are context specific. Sex Roles, 40, 107–120.
King, D. A., & Buchwald, A. M. (1982). Gender differences in subclinical depression: Administration of the Beck Depression Inventory in public and private disclosure situations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 963–969.
Madden, T. E., Barrett, L. F., & Pietromonaco, P. R. (2000). Sex differences in anxiety and depression: Empirical evidence and methodological questions. In A. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 277–298). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Malik, K. (2000). Culture and emotions: Depression among Pakistanis. In C. Squire (Ed.), Culture in psychology (pp. 147–162). New York: Routledge.
Miller, J. B. (1976). Toward a new psychology of women. Boston: Beacon Press.
Mitchell, J. (1974). Psychoanalysis and feminism. New York: Random House.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1987). Gender differences in unipolar depression: Evidence and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 259–282.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Morrow, J. (1993). Effects of rumination and distraction on naturally-occurring depressed mood. Cognition and Emotion, 7, 561–570.
Padesky, C. A., & Hammen, C. (1977). Help-seeking for depression: Gender differences in college students. Unpublished manuscript, University of California, Los Angeles.
Philips, D. L., & Segal, B. E. (1969). General status and psychiatric symptoms. American Sociological Review, 34, 58–72.
Plant, E. A., Hyde, J. S., Keltner, D., & Devine, P. G. (2000). The gender stereotyping of emotions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 81–92.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D: A self report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 3, 385–401.
Robinson, M. D., Johnson, J. T., & Shields, S. A. (1998). The gender heuristic and the data base: Factors affecting the perception of gender-related differences in the experience and display of emotions. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 20, 206–219.
Rosenkrantz, P., Vogel, S., Bee, H., Broverman, I., & Broverman, D. (1968). Gender-role stereotypes and self-concepts in college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 32, 287–295.
Rubinow, D. R., & Roy-Byrne, P. (1984). Premenstrual syndromes: Overview from a methodologic perspective. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 163–172.
Salokangas, R. K. R., Vaahtera, K., Pacriev, S., Sohlman, B., & Lehtinen, V. (2002). Gender differences in depressive symptoms: An artifact caused by measurement instruments? Journal of Affective Disorders, 68, 215–220.
Shields, S. A. (1984). Distinguishing between emotion and nonemotion: Judgments about experience. Motivation and Emotion, 8, 355–369.
Shields, S. A. (1987). Women, men, and the dilemma of emotion. In P. Shaver & C. Hendrick (Eds.), Sex and gender: Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 7, pp. 229–250). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Shields, S. A. (1991). Gender in the psychology of emotion: A selective review. In K. T. Strongman (Ed.), International review of studies on emotion (pp. 227–247). New York: Wiley.
Shields, S. A. (1995). The role of emotion beliefs and values in gender development. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 15, pp. 212–232). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Shields, S. A. (2000). Thinking about gender, thinking about theory: Gender and emotional experience. In A. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 3–23). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sigmon, S. T., Kendrew, J., Whitcomb-Smith, S., Boulard, N., Edenfield, T., & Kubik, E. (2003). The development and validation of the Mental Health Attitudes Scale. Unpublished manuscript, University of Maine, Orono.
Sigmon, S. T., Rohan, K., Dorhofer, D., Hotovy, L., Trask, P., & Boulard, N. (1997). Effects of consent form information on self-disclosure. Ethics and Behavior, 7, 299–310.
Spence, J. T., & Buckner, C. E. (2000). Instrumental and expressive traits, trait stereotypes, and sexist attitudes: What do they signify? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 44–62.
Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R. L., & Stapp, J. (1974). The Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A measure of gender-role stereotypes and masculinity–femininity. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 4, 43.
Sprock, J., & Yoder, C. Y. (1997). Women and depression: An update on the report of the APA task force. Sex Roles, 36, 269–303.
Stanton, A. L., Burker, E. J., & Kershaw, D. (1991). Effects of researcher follow-up of distressed subjects: Tradeoff between validity and ethical responsibility? Ethics and Behavior, 1, 105–112.
Twenge, J. M. (1997). Changes in masculine and feminine scores across time: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 36, 305–325.
Veit, C., & Ware, J. E. (1983). The structure of psychological distress and well-being in general populations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 730–742.
Weissman, M. M., & Klerman, G. L. (1977). Gender differences and the epidemiology of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 98–111.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sigmon, S.T., Pells, J.J., Boulard, N.E. et al. Gender Differences in Self-Reports of Depression: The Response Bias Hypothesis Revisited. Sex Roles 53, 401–411 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-6762-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-6762-3