Gender roles and traits in stress and health

1Women endure higher rates of physical and mental diseases than men at all ages and in all regions of the world. They experience more days of health-related reduced activity and work cessation, higher rates of hospital stays, and have higher health care costs, even when excluding diseases of the reproductive system. Women’s higher healthcare use further reduces their economic resources. It is therefore essential to better understand gender differences in health.

2Here we propose socio-cognitive explanations of gender differences in health. As stress impacts health considerably, we also focus on gender differences in stress and their explanations. We will show in particular that social roles and gender traits explain part of the observed gender differences in health and stress. Below, we start by examining the magnitude of gender differences in health.

3Among the 30 most common diagnostic groups in primary care, 90% are more common in women than in men (N = 2 mio, Stockholm; ). The median of odds ratios (ORs) among the 30 groups of diagnoses is 1.43, i.e., the odds of a diagnostic group being applied to women are 143% that of men, or higher, for half of the 30 diagnostic groups. These 15 diagnostic groups represent 56% of individual diagnoses analyzed. Figure 1 presents the ORs and percentage of women and men affected. Note these results are not based on self-reports, but official statistics.

4Most primary care diagnostics are related to acute conditions. Similar relationships are observed in chronic conditions: The total number of chronic conditions reported by individuals is at least 40% higher for women than for men (Canadian National Health Survey; see ). Further, such gender differences exist throughout adulthood (US National Health Interview Survey; ). Overall, ORs (women:men) are 1.25 for longstanding illness, 1.17 for limiting longstanding illness, and 1.92 for somatic symptoms (N = 17,300; controlling for age; ).

5Findings based on self-reports might be affected by the ability of individuals to report health information (e.g., over-reporting by women) and the impact of self-selection bias. Over-reporting is not empirically supported for the majority of diseases. Research shows that women and men are equally accurate at reporting health information, especially for chronic conditions (e.g.,;; ). But a few diseases feature gender differences (in both directions) in the quality of reporting. Participation rates are slightly higher among hospitalized women compared to those who are not, whereas hospitalized men do not differ (N = 15,330; ). This excess in participation of sicker women could contribute marginally to gender differences. But in the elderly, participation rates are higher among men (N = 1,045; ). As health declines with age, gender differences in health might therefore be higher than those reported in overall estimates.

6Individuals’ behavior, their social environment, and genetic factors can cause women’s health disadvantage. Yet, the genetic code interacts with the environment to produce changes between and within individuals that are relevant for health (e.g., ): the environment as well as environmental variations are known to affect respectively phenotypes (individual’s physical stable characteristics) and gene expression—the moment-by-moment translation of genes into RNA, proteins and hormones, allowing rapid adaptation to changing conditions.

7In the social sciences, research on intersectionality and health further discusses the caveats of focusing solely on sex when discussing health differences between women and men (see ): sociodemographic factors also have to be considered. Gender differences in a number of physical and mental diseases, and functional health, disappear when controlling for socio-demographic and contextual factors (N = 1,641;; N = 3,522; ), but not differences in the number of chronic conditions.

8The environment explains part of the gender differences in health, and this might be mediated by stress. Indeed, women and men differ in their exposure and reactions to stressors: women experience more chronic stressors than men and consider stressors as more threatening.

9Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axis, leading to the release of stress hormones (e.g., cortisol and catecholamines) that trigger dysfunctions of the immune system related to various diseases. Here we describe part of this process in a nutshell. On the one hand, cortisol secretion decreases lymphocytes counts (notably natural killer cells), which results in increased vulnerability to diseases and infections. On the other hand, catecholamines induce an elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Abnormally high concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines are related to several conditions and risks including cardiovascular risk factors and coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, depression and schizophrenia.

10Indeed, psychological stress predicts a variety of somatic diseases and mental illnesses. Stressed individuals are more at risk of developing depression and psychosis. Somatic complaints related to stress can range from minor or mild symptoms and diseases such as sore throat, headaches and influenza, to life threatening conditions such as heart attacks, cancer, and organ failure. Further, chronic diseases can be triggered by high levels of stress. In particular, the onset of autoimmune diseases is preceded by important stress episodes in 80% of cases. Differentiated exposure to stressors explains part of the gender differences in health.

11Among the many social explanations for the differences between women and men regarding health, those related to socio-economic status and social roles have received most empirical support. Indeed, some if not most of the non-physiological differences between women and men are socially constructed rather than biologically determined. In the (psycho)sociological literature, the term “sex” refers to the genetic and physiological differences between women and men, whereas the term “gender” refers to the experience of being male or female and the traditionally differentiated social roles they accomplish (e.g., home makers vs. resource providers—hereafter gender roles;; ). In their biosocial constructionist theory, describe how social expectations and biological processes (e.g., men not being able to give birth) interact to maintain such roles, but also allow for change. Differentiated social roles are important factors in the higher morbidity observed in women, primarily because of the differentiated stressors and stress reaction they induce. Below we present some of the empirical findings regarding the impact of social roles on health.

12Women who work, compared to those who do not, face less physical and mental health problems: providing care, particularly to family members (the “caregiver health effect”; ) negatively impact both physical and mental health (e.g.,; ). This is related to the higher number of stressors affecting caregivers, compared to non-caregivers. Because women are more often caregivers than men, their risk of exposure to such strain is higher, and this impacts their health.

13As the participation of women in the workforce has increased, stress differences between women and men have decreased. Women often also occupy clerical positions, whereas men occupy leadership positions more often than women. High-status individuals have more control, which leads to less experienced stress, whereas lower-status individuals experience more stress and use less efficient coping strategies.

14When working under similar conditions, women and men do not differ in their release of stress hormones, heart rate and experience of stress, whereas they do otherwise. Further, the excess of occupational stress of women compared to men disappears when age, education, and marital status are accounted for (N = 2,775; ). With the increased similarity in the gender roles over the years, women’s physiological responses become more similar to those of men.

15Throughout life, people are taught (explicitly, implicitly, and vicariously) which behaviors are desirable for men or women in society. Examples include experiencing that women usually take care of children while men work, the encouragement to participate in gender typical activities, or injunctions (for children: “boys don’t cry,” “girls don’t swear”). At a later age, such expectations often translate in the approval and disapproval of conduct (see; ).

16Behavioral expectations are integrated by individuals into their identity (gender traits), and the typicality of gender traits (masculinity and femininity) follows their desirability. Masculinity refers to the traditional behavioral expectations for men. Femininity refers to the traditional behavioral expectations for women. Masculinity, also referred to as instrumentality or agency; and femininity, also referred to as communion and emotionality (e.g., ), are usually measured using the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. These are questionnaires where participants rate themselves on items such as dominant, aggressive, assertive and independent for masculinity; and caring, gentle, compassionate and emotional for femininity.

17Research on the relationship between gender traits and health has shown that masculinity in particular is related to better physical and mental health (controlling for gender). Masculine individuals have better self-assessed general health, less physical symptoms and better mental health, and consult general practitioners less often (N = 886; ). Masculinity is positively related to physical health and health behaviors (N = 336; ). Overall, the effect of masculinity on physical health is positive, except for coronary heart disease (explaining in part the higher mortality of men;; ). With regard to mental health, masculinity is negatively related to anxiety, tiredness, and depression, but to higher antisocial behavior and substance abuse. A meta-analysis of 26 studies shows that masculinity is robustly associated with better mental health. Femininity is also positively related to health promoting behaviors. But the research shows conflicting findings in the relationship between femininity and health. Femininity is related to higher risks of depression in women, and to better and worse physical health outcomes depending on the studies.

18Stressors can be appraised as a threats or challenges (cognitive appraisal). Threat appraisals occur when resources (e.g., knowledge, skills, money) are considered insufficient to face a stressor. Challenge appraisals occur when individuals perceive they might benefit from the encounter with the stressor and consider their resources sufficient. Cognitive appraisals mediate the relationship between stressors and outcomes such as wellbeing and health. In particular, threat appraisals are negatively related to physical health and positively to psychological symptoms. Threat appraisals are related to physiological responses that promote exhaustion and disease, such as an excess in the liberation of catecholamines and cortisol, whereas challenge appraisals have less damaging outcomes and promote productivity and focus.

19An emerging body of research focuses on the relationships between gender traits and cognitive appraisals (e.g., ). Highly assertive women exhibit the physiological responses of a challenge appraisal and perform better than less assertive women, who have patterns of physiological measures consistent with threat appraisal. Surveys feature similar results. A study with two different samples (for replication purposes; N1 = 322, N2 = 525; ) shows that masculinity is robustly and positively related to challenge appraisal in both women and men. Masculinity is also negatively related to threat appraisal in men in both samples, and women in the second sample.

20The relationship between femininity and cognitive appraisal is not so robust, in line with its impact on health outcomes. Gender might moderate the impact of femininity on cognitive appraisal. Femininity increases the threat appraisal of several health risks in men, but decreases threat appraisal in women. report that femininity is positively related to challenge appraisal only in women of the second sample.1

21Gender traits also predict coping mechanisms. There are two families of ways of coping: problem-focused (such as active coping, planful problem-solving) and emotion-focused (e.g., avoidance, disengagement; ). Problem-focused coping is related to better health outcomes. Masculine traits are positively related to active coping, and negatively to avoidance coping. The role of femininity is less clear as it has been found to be positively and negatively related to active coping. Masculinity and femininity are related to seeking social support and positive thinking. Masculinity is indirectly linked to distress in the face of stressors (negatively) through challenge appraisal and disengagement coping.

22Even though men perform less health-related behaviors than women, they are less at risk to contract a large majority of health conditions. Our socio-cognitive perspective on gender inequity in health contributes to the current debate (see ). Gender differences in health and stress have been described. Socialization, particularly through gender roles and gender traits, has been related to the stress process, the experience of stress, and to the health of individuals. We have shown that gender traits have implications with regards to the way stressors are dealt with, and ultimately morbidity. In particular, we have shown that gender traits are related to the appraisals of stressors (as threats or challenges), which play an important role in health.

23The literature reviewed here shows that masculinity is beneficial for health. Nevertheless, untempered masculinity comes with its own risks with regards to health and mortality. Masculinity encourages aggressive conduct and the misperception of its consequences. Around the world, 62% of the individuals who died in 2010 at ages 15–49 were men (Global Burden of Disease study; ). Causes of death related to the behavior of self and others (mostly violence from others or from self) represent 38.3% of the deaths in men in this age range, against 23.5% of the deaths in women. Causes of death that involve physical diseases account for 76.6% of women’s deaths, against 61.6% of men’s deaths. Higher rates of behavior- and aggression-related causes of death in men are part of the explanation for the difference in mortality between women and men.

24The socialization of women and men remains quite differentiated. Women are still expected to be more nurturing and emotional (feminine) than men, who are expected to be dominant and instrumental in their conduct (masculine; ). Yet, it is notable that changing gender roles, such as the increased participation of women in the professional arena, have already decreased the higher morbidity of women and their higher rate of stress manifestations compared to men. Yet, the conditions required for masculinity to be beneficial still need to be more fully identified: recent research also shows that when women are “too masculine” in society (with regards to social expectations), the overall health of men and women diminishes, meaning that the health benefits of equality might only be truly reached after social expectations are changed. Egalitarian legislations are not enough.

25Taken together, the literature reviewed here supports the proposition that traditional socialization is advantageous for men not only in terms of power, including economic resources (see ), but also in terms of health, including exposure and reactions to stressors. The reasons for the maintenance of gender-based status asymmetries and their consequences are discussed in the edited volume “Gender and social hierarchies”, among other sources.

26The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.