With stress, women become empathetic. And the men?

The study, carried out by the International School of Advanced Studies of Trieste, led by Giorgia Silani and coordinated by psychologists and researchers from the University of Freiburg and the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Unit of the University of Vienna, found that stress is capable of increasing the "emotional intelligence of women, while lowering that of men.

The experiment that led to this finding saw participants having to speak in public or perform mental math homework. Later, both women and men were asked to imitate movements, recognize other people's emotions or assume the point of view of another individual. Women have not had any problems, on the contrary, their way of perceiving each other and interacting has been enhanced. Men, on the other hand, showed a noticeable deterioration in performance in all three activities.

To understand more clearly what are the mechanisms that lead to these results "Further research will be carried out"said Giorgia Silani.

See also