According to a new study, women who read negative news, remember them better than men, and generally have stronger responses to stress.
Researchers at the University of Montreal presented a group of men and women with a consistent series of headings taken from recent newspaper articles. One group examined only “neutral” news, while the other group was shown news that is usually perceived as “negative”.
After reading the news, participants performed a standard psychological stress test. During the test, the researchers observed the stress levels of each participant by measuring the salivary levels of cortisol, which is known as the stress hormone.
The researchers found that although reading negative news did not increase the stress of any of the participants in the experiment, women exposed to negative news had higher levels of cortisol after a psychological stress test than men who saw the same news headlines. For men and women who viewed neutral news, their cortisol levels were significantly lower.
Moreover, after one day, women more often than men recalled and experienced those emotional responses that were caused by reading negative news the day before.
The results of this study show that gender differences that underlie stress and memory mechanisms play a role in how we respond to negative news in the media. By the way, scientists have long warned that continuous exposure to the media is a significant stress factor.
