ABSTRACT
The different cultures perspective asserts that men and women inhabit and are socialized into different emotional worlds or cultures, with members of each sex developing distinct, but equally valid and effective ways of dealing with emotional experiences, including expression of emotional support and intimacy. The literature concerning the different cultures perspective, although varied in purpose and scope, contends that men's and women's ways of communicating are strikingly different and, thus, constitute different cultural styles. The logic of the different cultures perspective suggests that men and women should differ with respect to at least four classes of cognitive variables. The different cultures perspective maintains that there should be substantial cognitive and behavioral differences between men and women. Men and women are quite similar in their criteria, preferences, values, and patterns of interpersonal liking. A coherent theory must systematically account for both the observed similarities and differences in men and women with respect to varied aspects of emotional support.
