First Advisor

Claire Wheeler

Date of Award

Spring 6-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Public Health Studies: Community Health Promotion and University Honors

Department

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health

Language

English

Subjects

Stress, HPA-Axis, Coping, Appraisal, Gender, Sex

Abstract

It is well established that psychological stress, whether acute, chronic, or recurring, creates an imbalance in the body’s ability to regulate itself, leading to the potential for long-term disease. This paper looks at the possibility that women (anyone who identifies as a woman) experience more general mental stress than men (anyone who identifies as a man) due to women experiencing unique stressors under a patriarchal society. Men and women live different lives in modern society due to differing societal expectations and biological processes for women (menstruation, pregnancy, menopause). These extra feelings of stress may be tied to traditional gender roles that encourage women to conform to lifestyles that place additional caregiving burdens on women specifically. This paper examines a variety of research that looks at gender differences in stress appraisal and coping, as well as the possible stress impact of gender roles.

In this review, differences in stressors, stress appraisal, and coping strategies between men and women will be discussed with the goal of identifying prevention and treatment strategies to reduce the burden of gendered stress and stress in general for both women and men. There is a need for further research into the causal relationship between gender and stress differences, as well as research on how to provide better psychological care for patients depending on these results. This paper aims to draw attention to the need for possible differences in psychological treatment for men and women, in order to better address male and female perception differences in stress. The purpose of this literature review is to conduct a cross-disciplinary examination of the impact of patriarchally determined gender roles on the well-being of women and those who identify as female, including insights from psychology, sociology, and biology.

Comments

An undergraduate honors thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in University Honors and Public Health Studies: Community Health Promotion and Psychology.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43716

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