Gender differences in reports of interoceptive hunger

Gender differences in interoception, manifesting as attention to bodily events (typically greater in women) and accuracy at detecting bodily events (typically greater in men) are broadly established and suggest the likely existence of similar gender differences for interoceptive hunger. Here, we report a two-stage cross-sectional study to test for gender differences in self-report interoceptive hunger. In stage one we examined extant data (96 men vs. 355 women) and in stage 2 we collected data to test the findings from stage one (122 men vs. 315 women). Overall, compared to men, women consistently reported greater intensity of interoceptive hunger in both stage one (d = 0.4) and two (d = 0.5). This difference was most marked for hunger-related sensations felt in the stomach, head, and generally in the body. In addition, across stage one and two, men tended to report more specific sensations in their stomach (i.e., one aspect of stomach sensation experienced strongly relative to others), while women tended to report more specific experience of moods (i.e., one type of mood experienced strongly relative to others). To account for these gender differences, we draw on learning based-accounts of interoceptive hunger, where bodily sensations acquire meaning during childhood - a process that may be affected by caregiver beliefs about gender-roles.