Stress-Gender and Social Support Flashcards
What did Taylor (2000) suggest about differences between men and women?
- They have completely different stress responses
- Consequence of evolutionary history, males respond to stress through aggression or denial; known as FoF- women produce calmer response
- Females deal with stress by acknowledging and discussing with others ‘tend and befriend’
What is released during ‘tend and befriend’?
Oxytocin
What is oxytocin?
A ‘love and relationship’ hormone which counteracts the effects of stress and so women may be better protected from stress than men
Why do males not go through ‘tend and befriend’?
In males testosterone rises which has a dampening effect on oxytocin hence men may not tend and befriend but become more aggressive
What did Lazarus and Folkman (1984) suggest there was in terms of coping responses?
- Emotion-focused; coping involves trying to reduce negative emotional responses associated with stress such as fear, anxiety, depression, embarrassment etc.
- Problem-focused; coping targets the causes of stress in practical ways which tackles the problem or stressful situation that is causing stress, consequently directly reducing the stress
What did Matud (2004) find supporting these coping responses?
-3000 males and females in Spain; men rated work, relationships and finance as most stressful requiring problem-focused approach whereas females found family and health stressful, requiring a more emotion-focused approach
What has gender socialization led to?
Women engaging in fewer unhealthy behaviours and so more healthy behaviours, e.g. less risk-taking behaviour; women lead healthier lifestyles, as men are more likely to drink e.g. going to the pub increasing stress
What did Waxler-Morrison find (2006) that shows social support helps reduce stress
Found women with strong social relationships were more likely to survive breast cancer
Types of social support:
Emotional-expressions of empathy, love, trust and caring e.g. close friends and family members provide hope and a listening ear raising the person’s sense of self-esteem helping them cope with the situation
Instrumental-Tangible aid and service
e.g. her husband decides to work from home 2 days per week to babysit the children whilst she attends her chemotherapy or lending money to someone who has lost their job
Esteem/Appraisal-Information that is useful for self-evaluation
e.g. a support group or talking with others in a similar situation to remind someone of all of the qualities that equip them to ‘beat’ breast cancer