summary Current opinions on gender and somatization are in need of a critical consideration. After all, prevalence studies are not without gender bias. The idea that women in particular express their emotional problems in somatic complaints is insufficiently supported by empirical findings. Comprehensive studies on the explanation of individual differences in the perception and reporting of medically unexplained physical symptoms are scarce. The symptom perception approach offers a multidimensional model that integrates somatic, emotional, cognitive and social factors and possibly generates more and more research.