Discuss gender differences/ the role of social support in coping with stress (16 marks)
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There are 2 gender related coping mechanisms. Problem focused coping mechanisms involve reducing stress
by tackling it's root cause in a direct, practical and rational way e.g taking control to remove stress and learn
new skills like time management or relaxation skills. Emotion focused coping mechanisms involve reducing
stress by indirectly tackling the anxiety associated with the stressor e.g avoidance like distractions or keeping
busy, or using cognitive appraisal to think about the stressor more positively. Research has found men use
problem solving coping and women use emotion focused coping. For example, Peterson et al assessed
coping strategies of men and women who’d been diagnosed as infertile using several questionnaires, and they
found that both genders used a variety of strategies but women were more likely to accept the blame and use
various avoidance tactics (emotion focused) and men used more planful problem solving (problem focused).
Tend and befriend is how females respond to stress, proposed by Taylor, and includes tending- protecting,
nurturing and calming offspring, and befriending- seeking support from social networks at times of stress in
order to cope. For example, Lucknow et al reviewed 26 studies of gender differences in befriending and found
that women were more likely to use this method in 25 out of 26 studies, therefore concluding that women
favour befriending when stressed much more than men. Oxytocin is a hormone produced by both genders that
promotes feelings of goodwill and affiliation and also helps the body recover from stress. Taylor et al found
higher levels of oxytocin is linked with lower cortisol levels in females only so quicker HPA recovery in females.
So they concluded the oxytocin effect is stronger in women so they have a reduced stress response.
One strength is that there is evidence to support gender differences in stress from the role constraint theory.
The role constraint theory argues that differences in how men and women cope with stress are mostly due to
the different stressors they face. Coping strategies are highly situation specific i.e relationship stress is
emotion focused and work stress is problem focused. For example, Matud found women and men experience
a similar number of stressful life changes but of different types- women were more family and men were more
work stressors; women perceived their stressors as more negative and less controllable, so their coping style
was more emotion focused. This suggests that gender differences in coping strategies could be due to
experiencing different stressors rather than reflecting a fundamental aspect of being a man or a woman, as
research suggests.
A limitation of research into gender difference in coping with stress is that there are methodological issues.
Much of the studies use self report techniques such as questionnaires which are subjective and open to
interpretation, so participants' answers about their coping mechanisms may vary because they interpret the
questions differently. In addition, participants may also demonstrate social desirability bias and their answers
to questions may not be entirely truthful in order to viewed favourably by others and present themselves in a
better light e.g men may give problem coping mechanisms to appear ‘manly’ and socially desirable when they
may have more emotion focused behaviours. Therefore their answers may not reflect actual gender
differences between men and women in relation to coping with stress. This reduces the validity of research as
rather than measuring gender differences, it may actually be measuring participants willingness to answer.
One limitation is that there is difficulty in defining gender differences in coping with stress. For example,
Peterson et al studied infertility cases in men and women and found gender differences but that also men and
women used coping methods that did not fit the classic distinction between emotion-focused and problem-
focused. For example, is seeking social support an emotion focused or problem focused method? In fact, it
can be either or both. Women used it extensively, sometimes to seek information (problem focused) and
sometimes for emotional support (emotion-focused). This highlights the difficulty in making a clear distinction
between the 2 methods, and therefore the difficulty in concluding that women use one method and men use
another method.
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