Emotional news stories have a strong impact on men's financial decisions, according to new research.

The study, led by the University of Essex, revealed that men are far more likely than women to let emotions from one situation carry over into unrelated risky decisions. The study is published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.

After watching real-life negative news stories, men avoided financial risks even when the decisions were completely unrelated to the news. However, the opposite was true for women, whose decisions were unaffected.

"These results challenge the long-held stereotype that women are more emotional and opens new avenues for understanding how emotions influence decision making across genders," said lead researcher Dr. Nikhil Masters, from Essex's Department of Economics.

In the study, 186 people watched emotional news stories and were then asked to make risky financial decisions with real money. Interestingly, women's financial decisions remained unaffected by the emotional tone of the news, while men showed a clear tendency to play it safe.

The findings from this study could shape advice for high-stakes financial decisions.

"We don't make choices in a vacuum and a cooling-off period might be crucial after encountering emotionally charged situations, especially for life-changing financial commitments like buying a home or large investments," Dr. Masters added.

The research team, which involved academics from the University of Nottingham and Bournemouth University, now wants to investigate why only men are affected by these carryover effects.

"Previous research has shown that emotional intelligence helps people to manage their emotions more effectively. Since women generally score higher on emotional intelligence tests, this could explain the big differences we see between men and women," said Dr. Masters.