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Gender, Stress, and Coping

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Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology

Abstract

Despite an extensive literature on stress and coping, it is difficult to pinpoint ways of coping that, as a rule, are adaptive or maladaptive. Coping is a dynamic process, one that is shaped by characteristics of the person and situation (DeLongis & Holtzman, 2005; Folkman, Lazarus, Dunkel-Schetter, DeLongis, & Gruen, 1986). What is stressful to one individual in one situation may not be stressful to another person or to the same person in a different situation. This dynamic nature of stress and coping poses many challenges and requires that researchers pay adequate attention to the personal and situational context in which stress and coping occur. Across all cultures, to various degrees, there are differences in the stressful situations to which men and women are exposed. It follows, then, that gender may be an important factor to consider in understanding the dynamics of the stress process.

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Acknowledgments

The preparation of this manuscript was supported by graduate fellowships to the first author from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and the British Columbia Medical Services Foundation, and an operating grant to the second author from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Amy Zwicker

  2. University of British Columbia, Columbia, BC, Canada

    Anita DeLongis

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  1. Amy Zwicker
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  2. Anita DeLongis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Connecticut College, Mohegan Avenue 270, New London, 06320, U.S.A.

    Joan C. Chrisler

  2. Elm Street 38, Toronto, M5G 2K5, Canada

    Donald R. McCreary

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Zwicker, A., DeLongis, A. (2010). Gender, Stress, and Coping. In: Chrisler, J., McCreary, D. (eds) Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1467-5_21

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