GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE RECOGNITION OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTION

Gender differences in the recognition of facial expressions of anger, happiness and sadness wereresearched in students 18-25 years of age. A reaction time procedure was used, and the percentage ofcorrect answers when recognizing was also measured. Though the work hypothesis expected genderdifferences in facial expression recognition, results suggest that these differences are not significant at alevel of 0.05%. Statistical analysis shows a greater easiness (at a non-significant level) for women torecognize happiness expressions, and for men to recognize anger expressions. The implications ofthese data are discussed, and possible extensions of this investigation in terms of sample size andcollege major of the participants.