John Gray claims that men and women are naturally different in their intimacy needs and in their reactions to intimacy. He uses the analogy that men are like a rubber band; they pull away and then snap back. He compares women to a wave; their feelings and intimacy needs go up and down. Empirical research does not support this claim. White et al. (1986) found a few gender differences in intimacy maturity and its affect on marriage, but these differences do not outweigh the similarities of the sexes. Mirgain and Cordova (2007) looked intimacy as a mediator between emotional skills and marital health, and also found few gender differences. The gender differences do not suggest that men and women are completely different in their intimacy needs
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(1986) found that the means, standard deviations and ranges looked very similar for husbands and wives on all dimensions of intimacy, and found no statistically significant gender differences on any of the scales. There were a few significant positive correlations between husbands’ and wives’ various intimacy scores including sexuality and concern. There were positive correlations between the wife’s agency and the husband’s communion, meaning the more communional or “feminine” the husband, the more agentic or “masculine” the wife, and vise versa. This is a sign of emotional maturity, since, as stated earlier, moving away from a person’s own gender stereotype is a sign of maturity. There was a positive correlation between husband’s intimacy maturity and wives’ marital adjustment. There was little significance in the wives’ intimacy maturity on martial adjustment. This particular finding about intimacy maturity was the only significant gender difference. Because of the findings in White et al. (1986), there is some support for the idea that men and women perceive intimacy differently since husbands’ intimacy maturity influences the marriage adjustment, but not the other way around. White et al. (1986) emphasized this difference discussed it further. However, there are no significant gender differences in actual values and means on the various scales, meaning that men and women are more similar than different when it comes to intimacy. This study looks at gender …show more content…
The study had many measures, both for the observational tapes and the self-report data, including control in message delivery, control in message receipt, aggression control, eliciting and expressing positive emotions, and expression of nonhostile negative emotion. They also looked at empathy, comfort with emotional expression, and marital health measures such as satisfaction. The researchers found that women expressed more nonhostile negative emotions and were more likely to mention and name emotions than men. Mirgain and Cordova (2007) found that intimacy was partial mediator for wives’ emotional skills and husbands’ satisfaction, and intimacy was a full mediator for husbands’ emotional skills and wives’ marital satisfaction. These researchers found that women were more emotionally skillful than men. They conclude that emotions play a significant role in marital health because of their effects on intimacy and emotions are important to both men and women. Both wives’ and husbands’ emotional skills were correlated with their own satisfaction and their partner’s satisfaction, and this is partly through intimacy. This study partially supports Gray’s findings because found that women are more emotionally skilled and more in-tune with their emotions. However, this article found no
(1986) found that the means, standard deviations and ranges looked very similar for husbands and wives on all dimensions of intimacy, and found no statistically significant gender differences on any of the scales. There were a few significant positive correlations between husbands’ and wives’ various intimacy scores including sexuality and concern. There were positive correlations between the wife’s agency and the husband’s communion, meaning the more communional or “feminine” the husband, the more agentic or “masculine” the wife, and vise versa. This is a sign of emotional maturity, since, as stated earlier, moving away from a person’s own gender stereotype is a sign of maturity. There was a positive correlation between husband’s intimacy maturity and wives’ marital adjustment. There was little significance in the wives’ intimacy maturity on martial adjustment. This particular finding about intimacy maturity was the only significant gender difference. Because of the findings in White et al. (1986), there is some support for the idea that men and women perceive intimacy differently since husbands’ intimacy maturity influences the marriage adjustment, but not the other way around. White et al. (1986) emphasized this difference discussed it further. However, there are no significant gender differences in actual values and means on the various scales, meaning that men and women are more similar than different when it comes to intimacy. This study looks at gender …show more content…
The study had many measures, both for the observational tapes and the self-report data, including control in message delivery, control in message receipt, aggression control, eliciting and expressing positive emotions, and expression of nonhostile negative emotion. They also looked at empathy, comfort with emotional expression, and marital health measures such as satisfaction. The researchers found that women expressed more nonhostile negative emotions and were more likely to mention and name emotions than men. Mirgain and Cordova (2007) found that intimacy was partial mediator for wives’ emotional skills and husbands’ satisfaction, and intimacy was a full mediator for husbands’ emotional skills and wives’ marital satisfaction. These researchers found that women were more emotionally skillful than men. They conclude that emotions play a significant role in marital health because of their effects on intimacy and emotions are important to both men and women. Both wives’ and husbands’ emotional skills were correlated with their own satisfaction and their partner’s satisfaction, and this is partly through intimacy. This study partially supports Gray’s findings because found that women are more emotionally skilled and more in-tune with their emotions. However, this article found no