Effects of Stress on the Social Support Provided by Men and Women in Intimate Relationships.
Although evolutionary and social-structural models predict that women will be more supportive than men in relationships, behavioral studies fail to confirm this difference. We predicted instead that gender differences in support will be moderated by stress, and that men will provide lower-quality support primarily when their stress is high. We predicted further that the detrimental effects of stress on men's support will be more evident when men are responding to women's emotionally toned expressions of stress than when men are responding to women's affectively neutral expressions of stress. Stressed and unstressed men and women were observed providing support to a stressed relationship partner. While unstressed, men and women generally provided similar support to the stressed partner. While stressed, men provided lower-quality support than did comparably stressed women, but only in response to emotionally toned expressions of stress. Thus, gender differences in support may arise because women are better able than men to regulate other people's emotional distress while managing stresses of their own.
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
Guy
G
Bodenmann
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
Nathalie
N
Meuwly
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
Janine
J
Germann
Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University.
Fridtjof W
FW
Nussbeck
Department of Psychology, University of Freiburg.
Markus
M
Heinrichs
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles bradbury@psych.ucla.edu.
Thomas N
TN
Bradbury
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008571:Men / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D057566:Self Report; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013557:Switzerland; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
dyadic coping; gender differences; intimate relationships; social support; stress