The Effect of Sex on the Electropsychological Process of Emotional Arousal Intensity

BACKGROUND: Sex is a psychobiological factor that is important in the process of emotion. This study determines the effect of sex on the electropsychological process of various intensities of emotional arousal. METHODS: In the Event-related Potential (ERP) session, electroencephalographic (EEG) data was recorded for 90 participants, 60% of whom were females. The participants responded to 30 universal emotional pictures, randomly chosen from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), which were classified as invoking high, moderate, and low intensity of emotional arousal. RESULTS: From the analysis of variance of two-way mixed design, the interaction between sex and emotional intensity was observed in the occipital regions (O2), indexed by the amplitude of P300 and N200 components. Males exhibited higher amplitude of P300 and N200 components (in the occipital region) as responded to high and low emotional arousal stimuli than females. CONCLUSION: Sex is a fundamental factor that modulates psychological states in reaction to emotional stimuli.