The human face communicates a broad range of emotions instantaneously and often clearly. Men and women express emotion in different ways. Women are more emotionally expressive in general. Men are better at concealing their emotions. Women express emotions more through facial expressions, while men express emotion more through actions.
Women are more likely to be sad than men and show their sadness. An experiment conducted by Soojin Susan Oh at the University of Pennsylvania found that women are more likely to show their emotions when they read aloud about something sad. Men, however, are expressionless.
A large percentage of communication is nonverbal. The meaning of words take on different meaning, depending on the nonverbal cues expressed. Outside of social situations, women smile about the same as men. Women are better at noticing nonverbal cues than men. Women are better at sending nonverbal communication than men at an early age, and get better at nonverbal communication as they age. Men get worse at nonverbal communication as they age. Women tend to sit closer when talking then men, who usually keep distance between each other. Women use touch to express empathy and emotion. Men view touch as a method of exerting control and as a method of communicating sexual interest.
Nonverbal communication varies between gender and among cultures. While men tend to be more aggressive, Asian cultures as a whole have less aggressive members. Chinese women are generally more aggressive than men, except in the business context. In Japan, research has found there is little difference in communication styles between men and women.
Men tend to have sharper movements, while women usually have more fluid movements. Women tend to sit and cross their legs, while men keep their bodies more open. Men are more often allowed to relax and choose how they sit, while women are expected to sit in dignified ways. Women are not expected to use their bodies forcefully, spreading their legs when sitting or standing with legs widely spread. Female clothing has become increasingly less cumbersome, allowing women to more widely express themselves with their bodies. However, clothing has also become more revealing and certain bodily movements can accidentally reveal too much.