Gender differences in physiological reactivity to infant cries and smiles in military families

The primary purpose of this experiment was to examine gender differences in physiological reactivity to infant cries and smiles in military families.

Twenty males and 29 females viewed and listened to videotapes of a crying infant and a smiling infant while heart rate, skin resistance, and respiration rate were monitored. All participants were active-duty U.S. Air Force personnel or their spouses.

Males showed a larger increase in skin conductance than females during the crying infant stimulus. Males also showed an increase in heart rate during the crying infant stimulus, whereas females did not show any increase in heart rate during the crying infant stimulus. No gender differences in physiological reactivity were obtained during the smiling infant stimulus, although both males and females showed a significant increase in heart rate while viewing the smiling infant.

The results are contrasted with previous reports (e.g., Frodi, Lamb, Leavitt, & Donovan, 1978) of no differences between genders in physiological reactivity to a crying infant. Discussion of the results focuses on models of child physical abuse that involve physiological hyperreactivity. It is hypothesized that the greater physiological reactivity of males than females during a crying infant videotape may partially explain why physical abuse of a child by a male frequently results in more serious damage to the child than physical abuse by a female.