Cross-cultural validity of the masculine and feminine gender role stress scales

The objective was to examine the usefulness of Dutch versions of the Masculine Gender Role Stress (MGRS; Eisler & Skidmore, 1987) Scale and the Feminine Gender Role Stress (Gillespie & Eisler, 1992) Scale in The Netherlands. Undergraduate students (N = 2,239) completed both gender role stress scales. A subgroup (n = 508) also completed questionnaires about masculinity-femininity and daily hassles. With regard to both gender role stress scales, results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the original 5-factor structures and revealed no cross-sex differences on the factor models. Reliability and homogeneity indexes were all well within acceptable to satisfactory limits. Further evidence of construct validity was found in (a) medium to large correlations with daily hassles, (b) sex differences on the FGRS scale, and (c) small to medium correlations with masculinity-femininity. The major discrepancy with previous studies was that for Dutch female and male students, the MGRS scale was not sex specific. Taken together, this study sustained the utility of both gender role stress scales for use in The Netherlands.     

The importance of mutual positive expressivity in social adjustment: understanding the role of peers and gender

The relations between young children's mutual (reciprocated) and overall positive emotion (PE) with same- and other-gender peers and their social adjustment were explored. Children's PE and peers' PE were observed across the preschool year during peer interactions (N = 166; 46% girls; M age = 52 months). Results revealed that girls and boys had similar frequencies of overall PE and mutual PE when interacting with same-gender peers, but girls were marginally higher compared with boys in overall and mutual PE when interacting with other-gender peers. Girls and boys did not have greater rates of either type of PE after controlling for gender segregation during same- or other-gender interactions. Using structural equation modeling, children's mutual PE, regardless of their gender, positively predicted indicators of positive adjustment (e.g., prosocial behavior, cooperation) and negatively predicted indicators of negative adjustment (e.g., hyperactivity, disruption, exclusion by peers). Children's overall PE did not predict either type of adjustment. Findings support the importance of mutual PE for children's development.     

Effects of gender and gender role identification of participant and type of social support resource on support seeking

The relationship between type of social support resource (emotional vs. instrumental support) sought and gender and gender role identification was examined. Gender-typed and androgynous, white, middle to upper middle class males and females were given scenarios describing situations in which help was needed, and which also identified a female helper who would provide either emotional or instrumental support. The results indicated that males reported a significantly lower likelihood of seeking emotional support than instrumental support, while no significant differences were found between levels of seeking emotional and instrumental support for females. In comparing men and women for each type of support, it was found that males reported a significantly lower likelihood of seeking emotional support than did females. In addition, gender-typed males reported seeking emotional support significantly less than did the other three groups: androgynous males and females, and gender-typed females.This article was derived from the first author's master's thesis, who wishes to gratefully acknowledge the support and guidance of Ann Fuehrer, Richard Sherman, and Stephen Hinkle in the preparation of this article, the assistance of Andrew Avellano and Jami Pennington, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments on this article.     

On the motivation of quid pro quo sexual harassment in men: relation to masculine gender role stress

Male office workers reported levels of distress elicited by personal violations of a range of masculine gender role expectations, as well as their proclivities to coerce sexual favors from “attractive” subordinate women via bribery or extortion. Sexual harassment proclivity levels were directly correlated with levels of distress related to four dimensions of masculine gender role violations, including acts of subordination to women, public expression of emotional behavior, inadequate heterosexual prowess, and inferiority in athletic and intellectual domains. These findings accord with an interpretation that men's quid pro quo sexual harassment may be motivated by the social punishment of their own failures to conform to masculine gender role expectations, including, but importantly, not limited to the expectation that men should punish women's violations of feminine gender role norms.     

Structural gender differences in perceived social support

Gender is an important influence on support-relevant social interactions, however findings of studies on gender differences in social support are not definitive. Although differences between men and women in the various social support measures have been found in numerous studies, neither the cause nor the explanatory process is known. This study examines gender differences in the dimensionality of social support. A large sample (N=3210) from the general population of women (60%) and men aged between 18 and 65 years old (Mean AGE=34.1) responded to a brief scale with items assessing the distinct functions of the perceived availability of social support. Confirmatory factor analyses yielded one factor in the women's sample that measures global social support perceived, and two in the men's. The first factor in the men's sample measures emotional support (providing empathy, caring, validation of self-worth), and the second measures instrumental support (e.g. practical assistance or financial aid). We concluded that there are gender differences in the structure of perceived social support and that these differences can be explained by socialization experiences and social roles associated with gender.     

The role of stress,social support,and family environment in adolescent mothers' parenting

Adolescent childbearing is a major social and economic problem in the US. The authors assessed the role of stress, social support, and family environment upon adolescent mothers' parenting behaviors. 75 African-American, mother-infant pairs participated in the study. Each mother was administered a questionnaire and observed in a ten-minute teaching task with her baby. The study found that the adolescent mother's mother was the most frequent provider of support and the baby's father was the most frequent source of conflict. Mothers who identified more individuals as a source of conflict tended to have less positive parenting behaviors. Child age and interpersonal conflict were found through analysis to be significant predictors of maternal behavior. Furthermore, social support moderated the effects of interpersonal conflict when conflicted networks were large. Parenting stress was not a significant predictor of maternal behavior.     

Understanding the relationship between PTSD and social support: The role of negative network orientation

Network orientation is conceptualized as an individual's attitudes and expectations regarding the usefulness of support networks in coping with stress. The present research examined the potential for network orientation to explicate the well documented association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attenuated social support. Data collected from survivors of serious motor vehicle trauma (N = 458) were used to test the hypothesis that severity of PTSD would hold a significant indirect relationship with social support through negative network orientation. Childhood victimization and elapsed time from the accident were examined as potential moderators of this indirect relationship. Consistent with hypotheses, path analyses demonstrated a significant indirect relationship between PTSD and social support through negative network orientation. Specifically, this indirect effect was the result of a direct association between PTSD severity and negative network orientation and an inverse association between negative network orientation and social support. This pattern of relationships was invariant across mode of PTSD assessment (interview vs. self-report). No moderation effects were noted. These data suggest that network orientation may be an important factor in understanding interface of interpersonal processes and post-trauma pathology.     

The effects of social support on adjustment to stress: The mediating role of coping

The present research tested Thoits' (1986) proposal that coping mediates in the relationship between social support and adjustment to stress in two different contexts, namely adjustment to work stress and women's adjustment to the birth of their first child. The research was also designed to examine whether sources of support are more likely to influence coping if they are similar to the support recipient or proximal to the source of stress. In the first study, 137 employees from a large retail organization participated. Measures of social support (from supervisor, work colleagues, nonwork network members) and coping were obtained at Time 1. Two weeks later (Time 2), measures of employee adjustment were obtained. The second study was conducted on 197 expectant mothers. The measures of social support (from partner, family members, nonfamily members) were obtained at Time 1, coping was assessed at Time 2, and adjustment (self-report and husband ratings) was assessed at Time 3. Results of structural equation analyses revealed, in the first study, that the effects of colleague support on levels of adjustment were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, the effects of supervisor support on adjustment (job satisfaction) were direct. In Study 2, there was evidence that the effects of partner support on women's adjustment to new parenthood were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, levels of family support had direct effects on self-reported and external measures of adjustment.     

The assessment of gender role stress for Chinese

The present study aimed to extend the generality of the construct of gender role stress (GRS) to Chinese samples. Specific objectives included (1) devising Chinese versions of the Masculine Gender Role Stress Scale (MGRS) and Feminine Gender Role Stress Scale (FGRS) developed by Eisler and his colleagues (2) examining the relationship between GRS and gender role orientation, and (3) evaluating the concurrent validity of GRS by correlating it with a measure of health adjustment. Fifty-one male and 58 female Chinese college students in Hong Kong participated in Study 1, which aimed to develop Chinese versions of the two GRS scales. Similar to Americans, Chinese male students scored higher on the MGRS scale, but lower on the FGRS scale than Chinese female students. Students' scores on the two GRS scales were independent from their global ratings of stereotypic masculinity and femininity. A second sample, consisting of 46 male and 73 female Chinese nurses, was recruited for Study 2, which evaluated the association between GRS and health adjustment. As hypothesized, a high level of MGRS or FGRS was positively related to a high level of health and mental health disturbances for both male and female nurses.This study was funded in part by the Asia Scholarship for Research on Women 1992/93 of the United Board for Christian Higher Education. The authors would like to thank Professor Richard M. Eisler for his permission to translate the MGRS and FGRS scales into Chinese, and the Association of Hong Kong Nurses for their assistance in data collection.     

The role of stress mindset in support provision

To better understand the antecedents of support provision within relationships, this study examined the potential role of a novel individual difference; spouses' stress mindset (i.e., beliefs about whether stress‐is‐enhancing or stress‐is‐debilitating). As individuals with a stress‐is‐enhancing mindset often underestimate other's stress, we hypothesized that those with a stress‐is‐enhancing mindset will generally provide less and worse support compared to individuals with a stress‐is‐debilitating mindset. The results revealed few significant associations and the associations that were significant were contrary to predictions. For example, wives with a stress‐is‐enhancing mindset provided more support, and husbands who perceived their partner as having a more stress‐is‐enhancing mindset provided better support. Further research is needed to replicate these results and determine whether stress mindset has interpersonal consequences.     

Dynamic role of social support in the link between chronic stress and psychological distress.

How a chronic environmental stressor can interfere with the buffering effects of social support by eroding social support was analyzed in this prospective, longitudinal study. A classic buffering effect of support was found after 2 months of exposure to the stressor, household crowding. Crowded residents with low perceived support had greater increases in psychological distress than did crowded residents with high perceived support. However, after 8 months exposure the buffering effect disappeared. Moreover, greater crowding had become directly associated with lower support, which in turn was associated with greater increases in psychological distress. All analyses controlled for prior distress. Under some types of chronic stress, the buffering effects of social support may be short-lived because the stressor eventually erodes social support.     

The masculine role inventory: Components and correlates

An investigation was conducted to develop and validate a self-report inventory, the Masculine Role Inventory (MRI), designed to measure the success preoccupation, restrictive emotionality and inhibited affection aspects of the masculine role. Restrictive emotionality was defined as the restricted expression of privately felt emotions. Inhibited affection refers to the inhibition of feelings of affection and tenderness toward others. Success preoccupation was defined as a persistent preoccupation with success and career development to the exclusion of interpersonal pursuits and devotion. The psychometric properties of the MRI were evaluated with reliability and factor analyses. Self-disclosure correlates were also investigated. The results demonstrated adequate reliability and validity for the MRI.This article is based in part on a doctoral dissertation conducted under the supervision of Toni Falbo. Gratitude is extended to Mark R. Leary, William L. Hays, Ricardo Ainslie, Robert L. Helmreich, and Kathline Waddell for their many helpful comments, and to Raymond C. Hawkins II for his invaluable assistance. Portions of this data were presented at the 1983 annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, San Antonio, Texas.     

Coping in context: the role of stress, social support, and personality in coping

Personality and social relationships play an important role in almost every aspect of stress and coping. Daily process methods are particularly useful in elucidating how these factors might influence both responses to and outcomes of stress. Our work has linked both dimensions of personality, particularly the Big Five, and aspects of social relationships, particularly social support, to the likelihood of engaging in certain coping strategies and the effectiveness or outcomes of these coping strategies. In addition, we have found the effect of personality on coping and stress outcomes to vary by the situational context in which stress occurs. We review findings from our recent daily process studies of stress, coping, and social support. Further, we discuss the costs and benefits of the daily process methodology for addressing these questions, highlighting the clinical utility of findings gleaned with the use of this approach. Finally, we discuss future directions and applications of daily process methods to the study of stress and coping.     

The constructive role of gender asymmetry in social interaction: Further evidence

Two hundred and sixty‐four children aged 6.5–7.5 years (first graders) took part in a pre‐test, interaction, and post‐test experiment working on a spatial transformation task known as the ‘village task’. Cognitive progress was assessed by pre‐ to post‐test gains in both an immediate and delayed post‐test in dyads and individual participants as a control. The results indicate clear links between particular pair types with both communication processes and with learning and cognitive developmental outcomes. The present study demonstrates that gender can act as a source of status asymmetry in peer interaction to influence communication, learning, and cognitive development in same‐ and mixed‐sex dyads.     

The protective role of social network factors during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

The present study examined the relationship between COVID-19 threat perception, isolating health precautions, and loneliness. As a test of the stress-buffering hypothesis (Cohen & Wills, 1985), this study also examined if social network factors representing various aspects of social support moderated, or weakened, the relationship between threat perception, isolating health precautions, and loneliness. Participants (N = 1149) provided information about themselves, as well as 15 other people they know via an online survey. We found that structural and compositional social network factors, density, number of close alters, network threat perception, network covid cautiousness and number of vaccinated alters all negatively related to loneliness. Further, using moderated mediation analyses, we found that network threat perception and network covid cautiousness moderated the indirect relationship between threat perception and loneliness through precautions. At high levels of these factors, the mediation was less likely to be significant suggesting that the social network factors may buffer people from the loneliness that sometimes comes with engaging in isolating health precautions in response to the perceived threat of COVID-19.     

The role of gratitude in the development of social support, stress, and depression: Two longitudinal studies

In two longitudinal studies, the authors examined the direction of the relationships between trait gratitude, perceived social support, stress, and depression during a life transition. Both studies used a full cross-lagged panel design, with participants completing all measures at the start and end of their first semester at college. Structural equation modeling was used to compare models of direct, reverse, and reciprocal models of directionality. Both studies supported a direct model whereby gratitude led to higher levels of perceived social support, and lower levels of stress and depression. In contrast, no variable led to gratitude, and most models of mediation were discounted. Study 2 additionally showed that gratitude leads to the other variables independently of the Big Five factors of personality. Overall gratitude seems to directly foster social support, and to protect people from stress and depression, which has implications for clinical interventions.     

Subjective underemployment and psychosocial stress: the role of perceived social and supervisor support.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of subjective underemployment on psychosocial stress. The moderator effects of perceived social and supervisor support were also investigated. Data were collected during the summer of 1987 in a public utility governmental agency in the United States. The sample size was 212 with a 71% response rate. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between subjective underemployment and psychosocial stress. As expected, the results revealed a significant positive relationship between subjective underemployment and five indexes of psychosocial stress. The interactions between subjective underemployment and social and supervisor support were not significant; however, the relationships were in the expected directions. Supervisor support was positive and significantly related to psychosocial stress, but social support was not.     

Social support and gender role attitude among teenage mothers

This study identifies some of the factors that account for a relatively flexible gender role orientation among adolescent mothers. Education and support from family, peers, and the father of the child(ren) were predictive of a positive attitude toward combining career and child-care roles and competing in the labor market on an equal basis with males. The implications are relevant for school-based and social programs designed to enhance competent attitudes and performance among young mothers who are preparing for careers.     

Social support and cardiovascular responding to laboratory stress: Moderating effects of gender role identification,sex, and type of support

The objective of the present study was to examine moderating effects of gender role identification, sex, and type of support on the buffering role of social support on cardiovascular responses. We hypothesized that (a) gender role identification, more than sex, would moderate the effect of social support and (b) to obtain optimal attenuating effects of social support, type of support provided should match type of support preferred in terms of one's gender role identification. That is, feminine participants would benefit more from relatively direct support, whereas masculine participants would benefit more from indirect support. Healthy participants (N = 100) performed a psychological stressor in the presence of a friend, after mental activation of a friend, or alone. Results revealed no moderating effects of gender role identification whether or not in combination with type of support. Nevertheless, results demonstrated an attenuating effect of mental support on heart rate and cardiac output in men. It is concluded that pathways linking social relationships and health may differ between women and men.