New Delhi: An analysis of nearly 1,280 research papers, involving people from across 76 countries, has revealed that women may be better at recognising and understanding others' emotions, while men may score higher on tasks requiring to manage their own feelings.

The analysis, published in the journal Emotion, examined data of nearly 6,09,280 people, drawn from published and unpublished work until December 31, 2023.

Emotional intelligence, or the ability to recognise, understand and manage emotions of oneself as well as influence those of others, is said to be higher among women than men.

However, the study, which analysed three decades of research, calls into question the widely held belief, the researchers said.

"Women are emotionally intelligent. Men think they are. On performance-based tests, women's advantage is substantial. On self-reports, it almost disappears. Self-perception and demonstrated ability are not the same thing," lead researcher Jochen Menges, from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, said.

The researchers said emotional intelligence should not be treated as one quality. They split it into recognition, understanding and regulation of emotions -- in oneself and in others.

"Common assumptions about women and men's emotional abilities are often too broad. The evidence points to a picture in which differences depend on the skill being examined and the context in which it is measured," lead researcher Mary Hausfeld of the University of Limerick, UK, said.

Menges said, "Women show an advantage in recognising and understanding emotions, and in regulating other people's emotions. For managing their own emotions, the pattern reverses slightly, and men score higher. That matters, because being expected to manage other people's feelings is not the same as being better equipped to manage your own."

Over the three decades, the researchers noted that gender differences in overall emotional intelligence have narrowed in recent years, a shift most pronounced among children.

However, the team could not establish the cause behind it.

"Overall, these findings show that women hold advantages in many emotional abilities, but that gender differences in EI (emotional intelligence) are contingent on the target of emotional abilities, measurement type, and context, informing future research and theory building," the authors wrote.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.