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Female advantage in threat avoidance manifests in threat reaction but not threat detection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2022

David S. March Open the ORCID record for David S. March [Opens in a new window]  and
Lowell Gaertner Open the ORCID record for Lowell Gaertner [Opens in a new window]
David S. March
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301, USA march@psy.fsu.edu https://psy.fsu.edu/faculty/marchd/march.dp.php
Lowell Gaertner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-0900, USA gaertner@utk.edu https://psychology.utk.edu/faculty/gaertner.php
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Abstract

Threat avoidance involves both detection of a threatening stimulus and reaction to it. We demonstrate with empirically validated stimuli (that are threatening, nonthreatening-negative, neutral, or positive) that threat detection is more pronounced among males, whereas threat reactivity is more pronounced among females. Why women are less efficient detectors of threat challenges Benenson et al.'s conceptual analysis.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e142
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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