ABSTRACT
Two possible explanations for the failure to find gender differences in negative affect could be tested with the data collected for this research. The first derives from the possibility that different negative emotions are important to women and men. Ferguson and Crowley (1997) found general support for Lewis's (1971) hypothesis that women are more likely to experience shame after having performed a nonnormative act, whereas men are more likely to experience guilt. This possibility was tested by examining gender differences on two of the negative affect items, ashamed and guilty. As shown in the fifth and sixth rows of Table 1, the gender difference was not statistically significant in either case.
