Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between gender and social support. It was found that men were more isolated than women although there were no gender differences in perceived adequacy (i.e., satisfaction with one's social support network) or network size. Given that both the adequacy and network size variables were associated with socially desirable responding but the isolation variable was not, the results suggest that the behaviorally oriented indicator of isolation was a better measure of the degree of social isolation than traditional subjective scales currently used by many researchers. This suggests that traditional measures of social support that incorporate the dimensions of network size and perceived adequacy of one's social support system need to control for socially desirable responding and that measures can and need to be developed that are not significantly influenced by this response set bias. Hence, the assessment of social support may need to be more multifaceted than is currently undertaken in many studies. Our finding that men reported being more isolated than women may be a function, in part, of the fact that the majority of the sample (76.7%) was single/did not live with a partner. Previous research has found that men generally get their emotional needs met by their spouses/partners while women often get their emotional needs met by their female friends. Consistent with the literature, and given that most of our respondents were single, this study supports the contention that men are generally more socially isolated than women because they do not create adequate emotional intimacy when they are not in partnership with a significant other.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, S. M. & Bern, S. L. (1981). Sex typing and androgyny in dyadic interaction: Individual differences in responsiveness to physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 74–86.
Antonucci, T. C. } & Akiyama, H. (1987). An examination of sex differences in social support in mid and late life. Sex Roles, 17, 737–749.
Barbee, A. P., Gulley, M. R. } & Cunningham, M. R. (1990). Support seeking in personal relationships. Special Issue: Predicting, activating and facilitating social support. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 531–540.
Belle, D. (1987). Gender differences in the social moderators of stress. In R. C. Barnett, L. Biener & G. K. Baruch (Eds.), Gender and stress (pp. 257–277). New York: Free Press.
Berkman, L. F. (1985). The relationship of social networks and social support to morbidity and mortality. In S. Cohen &S. L. Syme (Eds.), Social support and health. New York: Academic Press.
Berkman, L. F. & Syme, S. L. (1979). Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: A nine year followup study of the Alameda County residents. American Journal of Epidemiology, 115, 684–694.
Berkman, L. F., Vaccarino, V. & Seeman, T. (1993). Gender differences in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality: The contributions of social networks and support. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 112–118.
Blazer, D. (1982). Social support and mortality in an elderly community population. American Journal of Epidemiology, 115, 684–694.
Buhrke, R. A. & Fuqua, D. R. (1987). Sex differences in sameand cross-sex supportive relationships. Sex Roles, 17, 339–352.
Crowne, D. P. & Marlowe, D. (1964). The approval motive: Studies in evaluative dependence. New York: Wiley.
Deaux, K. (1976). The behavior of women and men. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Flaherty, J. & Richman, J. (1989). Gender differences in the perception and utilization of social support: Theoretical perspectives and an empirical test. Social Science and Medicine, 28,1221–1228.
Freud, S. (1964). An outline of psychoanalysis. In Standard edition (Vol. 23). London: Hogarth. (First German edition, 1940).
Glenn, N. (1975). The contribution of marriage to the psychological well-being of males and females. Journal of Marriage and Family, 37, 594–601.
Helsing, K. J. & Szklo, M. (1981). Mortality after bereavement. American Journal of Epidemiology, 114, 41–52.
House, J. S., Robbins, C. & Metzner, H. L. (1982). The association of social relationships and activities with mortality: Prospective evidence from the Tecumseh Community Health Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 116, 123–140.
Kessler, R. C, McLeod, J. D. & Wethington, E. (1985). The costs of caring: A perspective on the relationship between sex and psychological distress. In I. G. Sarason & B. R. Sarason (Eds.), Social support: Theory, research and applications (pp. 491–506). Boston: Martinus Nijhoff.
Lowenthal, M. F. & Haven, C. (1968). Interaction and adaptation: Intimacy as a critical variable. American Sociological Review, 33, 20–30.
Maccoby, E. E. & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd Ed.). New York: Harper and Roe.
Newman, J. P. (1986). Gender, life strain, and depression. Journal of Social Behavior, 27,161–178.
Orth-Gomer, K. & Johnson, J. V. (1987). Social network interaction and mortality: A six year followup study of a random sample of the Swedish population. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 40, 949–957.
Pearlin, L. I. & Johnson, J. S. (1977). Marital status, life strains, and depression. American Sociological Review, 42, 704–715.
Powers, E. & Bultena, G. (1976). Sex differences in intimate friendships in old age. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 739–747.
Richey, M. H. & Richey, H. W. (1980). The significance of best-friend relationships in adolescence. Psychology in the Schools, 17, 536–540.
Rogers, C. R. (1980). A way of being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Sarason, B. R., Sarason, I. G., Hacker, T. A. & Basham, R. B. (1985). Concomitants of social support: Social skills, physical attractiveness, and gender. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 469–480.
Schoenbach, V., Kaplan, B.H., Fredman, L. & Kleinbaum, D. (1986). Social ties and mortality in Evans County, Georgia. American Journal of Epidemiology, 123, 577–591.
Shumaker, S. A. & Hill, D. R. (1991). Gender differences in social support and physical health. Health Psychology, 10, 102–111.
Solomon, L. J. & Rothblum, E. D. (1986). Stress, coping, and social support in women. Behavior Therapist, 9,199–204.
Somers, A. R. (1981). Marital status, health, and the use of health services: An old relationship revisited. In P. Stein (Ed.), Single life: Unmarried adults in social contexts. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Stokes, J. & Levin, I. (1986). Gender differences in predicting loneliness from social network characteristics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1069–1074.
Taylor, S. E. (1995). Health psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Turner, H. A. (1994). Gender and social support: Taking the bad with the good? Sex Roles, 30, 521–541.
Vaux, A. (1988). Social support: Theory, research, and intervention. New York: Praeger.
Vaux, A. (1985). Variations in social support associated with gender, ethnicity, & age. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 89–110.
Wheeler, L., Reis, H. & Nzlek, J. (1983). Loneliness, social interaction, and sex roles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 983.
Wingard, D. L., Suarez, L. & Barrett-Conner, E. (1983). The sex differential in morality from all causes and ischemie heart disease. American Journal of Epidemiology, 117, 165–172.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vandervoort, D. Social isolation and gender. Curr Psychol 19, 229–236 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-000-1017-5
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-000-1017-5