The phrase, “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” may hold more truth than we led on. Women are always thought of as the less aggressive, more forgiving and expected to be more rational than men. However, how much of that is a biological factor and how much of it is societal expectation? While many people believe women are more forgiving, the results of many studies suggest otherwise. This 1997 research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) USA, compared men and women to see if there were differences in how they forgive. The study looked at how forgiving people are in general, as well as how they forgive themselves, others, and situations they can’t control. Why Women Hold More Grudges The study, which included 625 people (mostly women), found that men were more forgiving overall than women. Men also showed a greater willingness to move past feelings of unforgiveness. However, when it came to the more positive aspects of forgiveness, like being accepting and compassionate, there was no major difference between the genders. Both men and women in the study showed similar emotional patterns related to forgiveness. Things like negative emotions, anxiety, and holding in anger were all linked to being less forgiving. On the other hand, positive emotions were linked to being more forgiving. An interesting difference was seen with anxiety control: for women, controlling their anxiety was linked to being less forgiving, but for men, it was linked to being more forgiving. Also Read: Rage Recedes After 50 In Women But Suppressed Anger Could Be Harming Your Health, Here's HowHow Emotions and Gender Affect Forgiveness The study found that a person's gender can change the way certain emotions are connected to forgiveness. This was especially true for forgiving oneself and forgiving situations that are out of one's control. Forgiveness of others, however, was not significantly affected by these gender differences. This suggests that while everyone's emotions play a role in forgiveness, gender can influence how those emotions shape our ability to let go of certain types of hurt. Are Men More Forgiving Than Women? Another 2021 study, published in the Journal of Religion and Health, on average, men were more forgiving than women, especially when it came to overcoming feelings of unforgiveness toward themselves and situations they couldn't control. However, there was no significant difference in the more positive aspects of forgiveness, such as a compassionate mindset. The research also found a link between emotions and forgiveness for both genders:Negative emotions, like sadness, anxiety, and anger, made it harder for people to be forgiving.Positive emotions were associated with being more forgiving.An interesting finding was how controlling emotions affected men and women differently. For women, trying to control their anxiety was linked to being less forgiving. For men, controlling their anxiety was actually linked to being more forgiving, particularly of themselves and difficult situations. How Does Serotonin Affect Your Brain? According to a study published in the Biological Psychiatry, the study showed that when serotonin was low, the connection between two key brain areas became weaker. To find this, researchers adjusted the diets of healthy volunteers to lower their serotonin levels. Using an fMRI brain scan, they observed how the volunteers' brains reacted to faces showing angry, sad, or neutral expressions. They found that these 2 areas of the brain became weak, The amygdala, which is the emotional part of the brain that creates feelings of anger.The prefrontal cortex, which is the part that helps us regulate and control our emotions.This suggests that with low serotonin, it's harder for the prefrontal cortex to manage the anger signals coming from the amygdala. This can make a person more likely to act aggressively.Why Some People Are More Prone to Aggression The researchers also gave the volunteers a personality test to see who had a natural tendency toward aggression. They found that in these individuals, the link between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex was even weaker when serotonin was low. This means that people who are already more prone to aggression are the most sensitive to drops in serotonin, which makes it even harder for them to control their angry feelings. These findings highlight that while everyone's emotions play a role in forgiveness, gender can influence how those emotions shape a person's ability to let go of certain types of hurt.