Gender Role Orientation, Emotional Intelligence and Anxiety Symptoms in Children

According to Gender Role Theory, girls and boys learn to develop interests and attitudes consistent with their gender, resulting in behaviors and characteristics known as “masculine” and “feminine” (Golombok & Fivush, 1994). Several authors have claimed that gender role, more than sex (male vs. female), explains the higher prevalence of anxiety in girls than in boys (e.g., Palapattu, Kingery, & Ginsburg, 2006). The expression of fear and anxiety is accepted and even encouraged among girls but is inconsistent with the masculine gender role: Boys are expected to face their fears and use adaptive behavior to handle the situation (Bem, 1981). Although the link between anxiety and gender role is well known for adults, empirical evidence concerning children is much scarcer (Palapattu et al., 2006). In this study, we first examine the importance of gender role in children’s anxiety. We also investigate the influence of a possible moderator in the relation between anxiety and gender role: emotional intelligence (EI). EI has been shown to protect against the development of anxiety in children (Williams, Daley, Burnside, & Hammond-Rowley, 2010).
Our sample included 200 Belgian children (105 girls) aged 9 to 13 years old. The questionnaires used were the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC; Spielberger, 1973), the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Child Form (TEIQue-CSF; Mavrovelli & Petrides, 2008), and the Children’s Personal Attributes Questionnaire (CPAQ; Hall & Halberstadt, 1980). The latter questionnaire is composed of three subscales: Masculinity (M, male-stereotyped traits but socially desirable in both sexes, e.g., leadership), Femininity (F, female-stereotyped traits but socially desirable in both sexes, e.g., kindness), Masculinity-Femininity (M-F, traits socially more acceptable for one sex or the other, e.g., emotional vulnerability for females and aggressiveness for males). High scores on the M-F scale indicate tendencies toward masculinity.
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the effect of gender role on the STAIC score beyond biological sex and EI as a moderator in relations between gender role and anxiety. Results indicated that gender role explains the anxiety score better than biological sex. Also, EI and the interaction between EI and M-F scores (TEIQue-CSF*M-F) were significant predictors of anxiety score. The children with low M-F scores and low EI had significantly higher levels of anxiety, while those with high M-F scores and high EI had the lowest levels of anxiety.
These findings reveal not only the effect of gender role in the development of anxiety, but also the moderating effect of EI.