Cited by 476Face Recognition and PerceptionEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorEmotions and Moral Behavior

Sex differences in the ability to recognise non-verbal displays of emotion: A meta-analysis

Thompson, Ashley E., Voyer, Daniel·2014·Cognition and Emotion

Abstract

The present study aimed to quantify the magnitude of sex differences in humans' ability to accurately recognise non-verbal emotional displays. Studies of relevance were those that required explicit labelling of discrete emotions presented in the visual and/or auditory modality. A final set of 551 effect sizes from 215 samples was included in a multilevel meta-analysis. The results showed a small overall advantage in favour of females on emotion recognition tasks (d=0.19). However, the magnitude of that sex difference was moderated by several factors, namely specific emotion, emotion type (negative, positive), sex of the actor, sensory modality (visual, audio, audio-visual) and age of the participants. Method of presentation (computer, slides, print, etc.), type of measurement (response time, accuracy) and year of publication did not significantly contribute to variance in effect sizes. These findings are discussed in the context of social and biological explanations of sex differences in emotion recognition.

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Crossref · 10.1080/02699931.2013.875889

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247 of 247 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Considering old and new analyses together, females are more proficient than males in recognizing emotions, with SMDs of 0.22-0.30.

    “Considering the results from both the old analyses and new analyses together, there were sex differences indicating that females relative to males are more proficient in recognizing emotions (SMDs = 0.22–0.30; Merten, 2005; Thompson & Voyer, 2014).”

    From A Systematic Review and New Analyses of the Gender-Equality Paradox (2025) · cites this paper as Thompson & Voyer, 2014

  • For emotion recognition, sex differences favoring females are larger in countries with higher living conditions, but the evidence is weak.

    “for Emotion recognition, the studies in the old analyses and new analyses (Merten, 2005; Thompson & Voyer, 2014) indicated that the sex differences favoring females are larger in countries with higher living conditions, but the evidence is weak.”

    From A Systematic Review and New Analyses of the Gender-Equality Paradox (2025) · cites this paper as Thompson & Voyer, 2014

  • Women perform better than men in tasks measuring emotion recognition.

    “women perform better than men in tasks measuring face memory [1] and emotion recognition [2]”

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Authors
Thompson, A. E., & Voyer, D.
Affiliations
University of New Brunswick (CA)
Corresponding author
Voyer, Daniel
Venue
Cognition and Emotion
Published
2014-01-08
Volume
28
Issue
7
Pages
1164-1195
ISSN
  • 0269-9931 (ISSN-L)
  • 1464-0600
OpenAlex
W2023112595
Cited by
476
References
249
Citations by year
2026: 32 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 79 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
FWCI
2.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Cognition & Emotion (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Keywords
sex differences, emotion recognition, facial expressions, vocal emotion, sensory modalities, age effects
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Child, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Photic Stimulation, Sex Characteristics, Recognition, Psychology, Young Adult

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