[3] Multiple researchers have found that women cry more frequently, and for longer durations than men at similar ages.
[8] Brody and Hall (2008) report that women generally smile, laugh, nod, and use hand gestures more than men do.
[8] Other studies have shown that women show higher levels of expression accuracy and judgement of nonverbal emotional cues than men overall.
These patterns are not consistent across cultures, suggesting that socialization influences gender differences in emotional expression.
[8] Some research has shown that culture and context-specific gender roles have a stronger influence on emotional expression than do biological factors.
"[10] In one cross-cultural study, it was shown that in nearly all cultures, women generally cry more than men; however, the gender difference tends to be more significant in democratic and affluent countries.
[11] Another study suggests that people tend to exhibit more intense negative facial expressions in solitary conditions, and smile more when others are present.
Men, on the other hand, seemed to be less concerned with appearing positive to others; they showed no difference in their expression of anger based on whether or not others were present.
In computer-mediated communication (CMC), the absence of body language and visibility restricts one's ability to correctly recognize others' emotions.
For this reason, emoticons are widely used in online communication to replace non-verbal behaviors that emphasize or clarify one's feelings.
In many Western cultures, for example, parents discuss and express a broader range of emotions with their daughters than with their sons.
In a 2008 study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor brain activity in participants, researchers found that men and women differ in neural responses when experiencing negative emotions.
Biological theorists propose that females and males have innate differences that exist at birth, but unfold with age and maturation in response to interactions with their specific environments.
Emotions are complex and involve different components, such as physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience.
For instance, studies suggest that women often occupy roles that conform to feminine display rules, which require them to amplify their emotional response to impress others.