ARE WOMEN THE MORE EMOTIONAL SEX - EVIDENCE FROM EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES IN SOCIAL-CONTEXT

The present study examined whether sex differences in emotion are rela ted to the social context and addressed differences between global, re trospective, and on-line, momentary self-descriptions of emotional exp erience and expression. Participants provided global, retrospective de scriptions of their emotional characteristics at an initial session, a nd then provided momentary emotion ratings as well as details about th e social context in which they experienced their emotions over a one-w eek period. We predicted and found that sex-related differences in emo tion in global self-descriptions, but not in the averaged momentary ra tings of emotion. Furthermore, only sex of the interaction partner eli cited sex differences in emotionality; participants experienced and ex pressed more emotion when in opposite-sex dyads. Although most of the other context variables were themselves associated with emotional expe rience or expression, suggesting that they were emotionally evocative, none emerged as elicitors of sex differences in emotional experience; felt intimacy in the interaction was associated with sex differences in ratings of emotional expression. Together, the findings present cer tain caveats to the widely held belief that women are the ''more emoti onal'' sex.