DO MEN CONFORM MORE THAN WOMEN IN THE RECOGNITION AND LABELING OF EMOTIONS?

The study focuses on differences between women and men in recognizing negative emotions from facial expressions and the conformity of women and men while labeling the emotions. Previous research has indicated that women conform more than men when the stimuli used are more comprehensible for men. This research seeks to establish whether this phenomenon can be observed when the stimuli are more comprehensible to women. In this study, 24 women and 25 men labeled the facial expressions of negative emotions, first in private and subsequently in a group with four confederates. In private, women were more successful than men in recognizing facial expressions. However, no differences were observed between women and men in respect to conformity while being in a group. The results show that the displaying of emotions is a gender specific stimulus that does not affect conformity.