Gender Differences

Question 1

Physiological explanation

Answer 1

Taylor et al - females response ar more marked by a tend to befriend
Tending = involves nurturing activities, protecting offspring or reduce stress
Befriending = creation and maintaince of social networks that may aid in this process
- females produce oxytocin the love hormone
Where as males produce testosterone leads to aggression aka fight and flight response

Question 2

Psychological explanations

Answer 2

Lazarus and folkman
2 types of copying with stress emotion focused and problem focused

Question 3

Emotion focused

Answer 3

• Involves trying to reduce the negative emotional response associated with stress such as embarrassment, fear, anxiety
• may be the only realistic option when the source of stress is outside a the persons control
• eg drug therapies seen as emotional copying focuses on arousal not problem

Question 4

Problem focused copying

Answer 4

• Targets cause of stress in practical ways
• directly reduces stress
• aim to remove stressor including problem solving, time management

Question 5

What do females use a copying mechanism

Answer 5

Females tend to use emotion focused copying mechanism more whereas males tend to use problem focused copying mechanisms

Question 6

Key study - gender differences

Answer 6

Peterson et al
Aim:
- to demsotrate that men use problem focused and women use emotional focus

Procedure:
- 1000 men and women seeking fertility treatment
- asked to complete a questionnaire

Found
- clear gender differences
- women used confrontive copying eg they tried to alter situation to reduce emotional impact
- men men engaged problem solving and distanced themselves from the problem

Question 7

Evaluation of gender differences

Answer 7

Weaknesses
Not simply tend and befriend response
- Taylor te al Argus women can also be aggressive when their offspring under threat
- observed in female animals
- females tend to to be aggressive or flee than stay together
- suggests that female stress response not simple tend to befriend cos it’s of variety of strategies that’s re adapted to protect offspring

Confounding variables
- due to lifestyle differences eg men and women and traditional roles rather due to i her at copying tendency in men and women

Real world application
- beneficial when setting up stress support for males and females research suggest is females use emotion focused copying their stress symptoms more likely to be reduced