Gender Differences

• Lazarus and Folkman (1984) hypothesise that males use more problem focused solutions to stress while females use emotion based solutions
• Problem focused solutions deal with stress directly and rationally in order to take control of and manage stress
• Emotion focused solutions are centred around dealing with the anxiety associated with stress often through avoidance or social support
• Tend or Befriend (Taylor 2000) found that instead of fight or flight women tend to offspring or befriend others to gain strength in numbers
• Oxytocin is produced in the stress response and promotes feelings of affiliation with others
• Research suggests female hormones like oestrogen increases the activity of oxytocin however androgens (male hormones) reduces it
• As oxytocin's effect is increased by female hormones, women experience a reduced stress response
• Peterson (2006) assessed the coping strategies of men and women who were diagnosed as infertile
• Peterson (2006) measured coping strategies of participants using several methods including Folkman's (1986) ways of coping questionnaire
• Peterson (2006) found women were likely to accept blame when it came to stress and use avoidance tactics while men were likely to use problem solving to find solutions
• Luckow (1998) looked into 26 studies of seeking social support and found across 25 studies women were more likely to seek social support during stress supporting tend and befriend
• Lewis and Linder (2000) found women preferred to seek social support from other women rather than men
• Taylor (2002) found higher levels of oxytocin was linked to lower levels of cortisol in women after exposure to a stressful task
• Oxytocin aids the recovery of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system
• Strength; research support from Tamres (2002) who looked into 26 studies comparing stress responses of men and women and found women used social support as a way of promoting caring for others (Tend and Befriend Taylor 2000)
• Weakness; alpha bias as social support could contribute to both emotion and problem focused solutions as it could be used to help find solutions to the stress via advice
• Peterson (2006) weakness; beta bias and men and women likely react very differently to infertility due to higher social pressures on women to have children
• Peterson (2006) weakness; social desirability bias due to the use of a questionnaire as participants are likely to lie about how they cope with stress to come across as having more healthy coping mechanisms than they do