SEX-DIFFERENCES IN EMOTION - EXPRESSION, EXPERIENCE, AND PHYSIOLOGY

Although previous studies of emotional responding have found that wome n are more emotionally expressive than men, it remains unclear whether men and women differ in other domains of emotional response. We asses sed the expressive, experiential, and physiological emotional response s of men and women in 2 studies. In Study 1, undergraduates viewed emo tional films. Compared with men, women were more expressive, did not d iffer in reports of experienced emotion, and demonstrated different pa tterns of skin conductance responding. In Study 2, undergraduate men a nd women viewed emotional films and completed self-report scales of ex pressivity, gender role characteristics. and family expressiveness. Re sults replicated those from Study 1, and gender role characteristics a nd family expressiveness moderated the relationship between sex and ex pressivity.