Men and women … the same level of sadness while watching tearjerkers like Titanic - but women are more likely to … for a box of tissues. That is the conclusion of Vanderbilt University psychologist Ann Kring, whose findings … sex differences in emotion have appeared in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

"It is incorrect to make a … statement that women are more emotional than men," she says. "It is correct to say that women show their emotions more than men."

Kring conducted two studies - one to determine … women are "more emotional" or just "more expressive", and the other to explore whether gender roles …for expressive differences between women and men. In both, women were shown to be more … expressive of both positive and negative emotions.

In both studies, university students were brought individually into a laboratory setting and told that they were participating in a study of the psychology of movies and .. aspect of a movie draws people into the plot (to prevent them from modifying their behaviour). Subjects were then secretly videotaped. In addition, electrodes were … to their hands to monitor palm-sweating - a measure of emotion. They were later given a self-report survey on expressivity.

"We decided to see if maybe sex isn't the important variable in emotional expressiveness since there are such … stereotypes about sex and emotion," says Kring. "Maybe it's not sex that contributes to these emotion differences, but something called gender role."

Feminine gender roles traditionally include such …  as being nurturing, affectionate, warm and caring, while masculine characteristics are generally the opposite: aggressive, powerful and assertive.

Significantly, both male and female participants endorsing a high number of characteristics traditionally associated with both masculinity and femininity were more facially expressive. They also reported having a more expressive disposition than participants … only a high number of either masculine or feminine characteristics.

predominant; on; attached; what; whether; account; facially;  experience; attributes;  blanket; reach;

Keys: 1) experience; 2) reach; 3) on; 4) blanket; 5) whether; 6) account; 7) facially; 8) what; 9) attached; 10) predominant; 11) attributes; 12) reporting;

Further work on the text:

Find synonyms to the following phrases:

Universal belief; film or other events that make you cry; discoveries about; explain; to show emotions on your face; to make people involved in a plot; to be the reson for;

Keys: Blanket statement; tearjerker; findings on; account for; to be facially expressive; to draw into a plot; to contribute to;

 Discuss the following points:

1) What can be a tearjerker for you?

2) Can the statements  "all wolves are carnovorous” be called a blanket statement?

3) What is a blanket refusal? What suggestions may cause blanket refusal?

4) What findings of the 20^th centuries do you consider most significat?

5) What do you think accounts for the world terrorism?

6) Can you avoid being facially expressive if you are shocked?

7) Do you feel sometimes feel drawn into a plot if you watch documetaries?

8) How can you contribute to improving global ecology?