EXPLAINING THE GENDER GAP IN CRIME: THE ROLE OF HEART RATE

• Published date: 01 May 2017
• Author: ADRIAN RAINE,PETER H. VENABLES,DAVID P. FARRINGTON,OLIVIA CHOY
• Date: 01 May 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12138

EXPLAINING THE GENDER GAP IN CRIME:

THE ROLE OF HEART RATE∗

OLIVIA CHOY,1ADRIAN RAINE,2PETER H. VENABLES,3

and DAVID P. FARRINGTON4

1Department of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania

2Departments of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology, University of

Pennsylvania

3Department of Psychology, University of York Heslington

4Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

KEYWORDS: heart rate, crime, gender gap, sex, longitudinal

Although it is well established that males engage in more crime compared with fe-

males, little is known about what accounts for the gender gap. Few studies have been

aimed at empirically examining mediators of the gender–crime relationship in a longi-

tudinal context. In this study, we test the hypothesis that a low resting heart rate partly

mediates the relationship between gender and crime. In a sample of 894 participants,

the resting heart rate at 11 years of age was examined alongside self-reported and of-

ficial conviction records for overall criminal offending, violence, serious violence, and

drug-related crime at 23 years of age. A low resting heart rate partially mediated the

relationship between gender and all types of adult criminal offending, including violent

and nonviolent crime. The mediation effects were significant after controlling for body

mass index, race, social adversity, and activity level. Resting heart rate accounted for

5.4 percent to 17.1 percent of the gender difference in crime. This study is the first to

produce results documenting that lower heart rates in males partly explain their higher

levels of offending. Our findings complement traditional theoretical accounts of the

gender gap and have implications for the advancement of integrative criminological

theory.

The higher rate of offending among males compared with females is a well-documented

finding in criminology. The gender gap has been found across time, cultures, and data

sources (Archer, 2004; Heimer, Lauritsen, and Lynch, 2009; Rohner, 1976; Schwartz

et al., 2009; Steffensmeier et al., 2005). Evidence also shows that gender differences in

antisocial behavior are observed as early as 17 months of age (Baillargeon et al., 2007;

Tremblay et al., 1999). Thus, any encompassing theory of crime and antisocial behavior

should help to explain the gender difference in offending that is in place from early in life

to adulthood.

∗Additional supporting information can be found in the listing for this article in the Wiley Online

Library at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/crim.2017.55.issue-2/issuetoc.

This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH-46435),

the Wellcome Trust (U.K.), and the Leverhulme Trust (U.K.).

Direct correspondence to Olivia Choy, University of Pennsylvania, 483 McNeil Building, 3718

Locust Walk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6286 (e-mail: ochoy@sas.upenn.edu).

C2017 American Society of Criminology doi: 10.1111/1745-9125.12138

CRIMINOLOGY Volume 55 Number 2 465–487 2017 465

466 CHOY ET AL.

The reason for the gender gap has become the subject of considerable theoretical

debate (Foster, 2014). The limitations of socially grounded criminological paradigms,

such as social control, differential association, strain, and reintegrative shaming theories,

in fully explaining the gender gap have prompted researchers to move beyond the

standard concepts of traditional theories (De Coster, Heimer, and Cumley, 2012). In

this article, we address this gap in the literature regarding the incomplete understanding

of why males are more criminal than females, while answering recent calls for research

on sex differences in biological functioning and behavior (National Institute of Mental

Health, 2011; National Institutes of Health, 2015).

SOCIALLY ORIENTED THEORIES OF CRIME

AND THE GENDER GAP

Dominant explanations for the gender gap have stemmed from a socially oriented

perspective according to at least four criminological theories—social control theory,

differential association theory, strain theory, and reintegrative shaming theory. Social

control theory proposes that differences in parenting and socialization for males and

females arise from gender expectations (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990). These differ-

ences then encourage the development of traits such as empathy and emotion regulation

in females, which contribute to a better ability to control impulses. Meanwhile, the

lower levels of self-control among males, characterized by impulsivity and risk-taking

inclinations, are argued to predispose them toward criminal behavior. Differential

association theory in contrast suggests that a higher rate of male offending results

from greater association with delinquent peers as girls may be more closely supervised

and have fewer opportunities to interact with nonconventional others (Akers, 2009;

Burgess and Akers, 1966; Sutherland, 1947). The theory also suggests that as a result of

social learning, males are more likely to be taught identities emphasizing traits such as

risk-taking and to hold beliefs that encourage offending. General strain theory in turn

introduces the argument that the gender gap can be attributed to males’ heightened

exposure to strain and emotional responses to strain that are more conducive to crime

(Agnew, 1992; Broidy and Agnew, 1997). Other conditioning factors such as limited

legitimate coping resources, lower levels of social control and emotional support, and

greater association with criminal peers increase males’ likelihood of responding to strains

with crime (Agnew, 2009). Reintegrative shaming theory gives rise to the notion that

females experience greater self-conscious emotion than do males, rendering them less

prone to engage in crime or delinquency (Braithwaite, 1989; Van Gelder et al., 2014).

Some support has been found for these theories. For example, in line with social

control theory, empirical findings have suggested that attachment to conventional values

(Liu and Kaplan, 1999), parental involvement and monitoring (Bell, 2009; Svensson,

2003), disruptions of early attachment (Hayslett-McCall and Bernard, 2002), and

self-control (e.g., Kim and Kim, 2015; LaGrange and Silverman, 1999; Tittle, Ward,

and Grasmick, 2003) can account for the gender gap in offending. Consistent with the

differential association theory explanation, higher levels of exposure to delinquent peers

have been found among males, which may account, at least in part, for the gender gap

(Bell, 2009; Liu and Kaplan, 1999; Jensen, 2003; Mears, Ploeger, and Warr, 1998; Simons,

Miller, and Aigner, 1980; Svensson, 2003). Evidence also shows that males are more

likely than females to endorse attitudes favorable to violent behavior (Heimer and De