Psychology

It is widely acknowledged that men and women differ in remarkable ways, with differences in personality characteristics, perceptions and emotions.  There have been various debates concerning the disparities in gender related issues. Even though the bulk of research on gender is marred by controversy, researchers are still involved in researching the various issues concerning gender differences. While some researchers have found enough evidence to suggest that there are different kinds of stress and coping styles across gender (Matud 2004), others have insisted that no difference exist (Hamilton  Fagot 1998).

The bulk of these studies distinguish between stressful life events and chronic stressors (Hamilton  Fagot 1998 Matud 2004). Chronic stressors are those that persist over extended periods of time. The bulk of literature is focused on chronic stressors since it is easier to identify and make sense of an individuals general coping style from observing how he or she deals with everyday situations (Hamilton  Fagot 1998 Matud 2004).

Generally, people have been found to express two coping styles. These are problem focused coping and emotion focused coping. Problem focused coping involves the use of cognitive and behavioral changes to adjust or eliminate stressors. Emotion-focused coping on the other hand involves the modification of an individuals emotional responses caused by the stressor. It is widely agreed that problem focused coping is more effective and that emotion-focused coping may result in psychological distress. According to Matud (2004), women seem to employ emotion-focused coping more than men, who generally use problem-focused coping. This might be the reason why women appear to perceive more stress as well as have more problems with anxiety and depression than men (Matud 2004).

In observing the perception of stress and coping across gender, gender role socialization is a very critical variable. It is often suggested that gender disparity is not attributed to gender itself but to the manner in which men and women are socialized. For example, men are likely to be socialized to be independent, problem oriented and less likely to express their emotions. On the other hand, women may be socialized to be more dependent, emotional, and supportive. Researchers have discovered that individuals who exude traditional gender roles may employ problem-focused and emotion focused coping style while those who exude nontraditional roles may use more personality based coping style that does not correspond with traditional gender role coping style. They may also use both styles of coping.

Researches using various measurements have indicated the differences in the level of stress and coping across gender. Such measurements include the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and Brief COPE. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale is a self report measure of depression, anxiety, and stress. The DASS items can be grouped into three scales depression, anxiety and stress. The stress scale includes items for measuring symptoms such as irritability, tension and the propensity to overreact to stressful events.
An analysis of gender effects on DASS suggest that on average, women are more significantly stressed than men. The DASS seem to be a psychometrically relevant and useful instrument for measuring depression, anxiety and stress. It comprises of three self-report scales that are designed to offer relatively pure measures of the three closely associated negative affective states of depression, anxiety and stress.

The Brief COPE (Carver 1997) on the other hand is a multidimensional coping inventory that is used in the assessment of the various ways that individuals respond to stress. The concept is derived from psychological studies conducted on stress. Within the conceptual analysis of stress by Lazarus and Folkman (1984), coping functions with two cognitive appraisals conducted by the individual concerning the perception of a threatening situation and the available resources of handling it. The Brief COPE presents twenty eight item self report measures of both adaptive and maladaptive coping skills. It has the advantage of being constructed from acknowledged theoretical models. It can assess both state coping and trait coping.

Various assessments conducted using the Brief Cope inventory in determining the relationship between gender, specific sources of stress and coping strategies have also suggested gender differences in the level of stress and coping (Brougham, Zail, Mendoza  Miller 2009, p.95). The results indicate that women have higher overall level of stress and greater employment of emotion-focused coping strategies than men. The results also indicate that men and women use different coping strategies for different stressors. These results confirm reports on the differences between men and women in coping with stress.

In this regard, there is little doubt that women experience more stress and possess avoidant coping styles as compared to men. This factor has been attributed to the differences in socialization across the genders even though there may be other underlying psychological and biological factors.