How Stress Impacts Men and Women Differently

A recent poll by Gallup on happiness shows that out of the 142 countries and areas surveyed, around four in ten adults reported experiencing significant amounts of stress. Stress affects everyone differently – in conscious and unconscious ways – and especially between men and women.

The more scientists and medical professionals study these distinctions, the better care solutions we can provide.

This article discusses differences in the ways that women and men report experiencing and handling stress as well as potential gender differences in stress response.

Women Are More Stressed Than Men

Out of the representative sample of over 3,000 adults, the APA (American Psychological Association)’s October 2023 Stress in America Survey found that women reported a higher average stress level compared to men. They were also more likely to rate their stress levels higher than men, with 27% of women rating their stress levels between an 8 and a 10 compared to 21% for men.

The Global Gender Gap Report also shows a consistent, striking gap between reported stress levels, with women reporting higher levels of stress across employment types (employed, partially employed, self-employed, stay-at-home, etc.).

Part of this gap may be attributed to the fact that women are more likely to admit that they are stressed, whereas men are more likely to disassociate. However, this does not explain why there was an increase in female stress levels from 2019-2021, but a decrease in stress levels by men in the same survey.

Women Internalize Stress More Often Than Men

Not only are women reporting feeling more stressed across the board, they are also more likely to feel overwhelmed by their stress and were less likely to report that they had the ability to get over stress quickly.

Some studies suggest that women have higher likelihoods of internalizing stress, and internalized stress is more likely to turn into physical and mental disorders. Men, on the other hand, tend to externalize their stress onto their environment through impulsivity or aggression.

These findings underscore the need for individualized wellness interventions for targeted demographics rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to mental health care.

Treat and Nurture vs. Fight or Flight

While further research needs to be done, and these are broad generalizations of populations at large, researchers have found a few key differences in the ways that women and men handle stress. 

Women Tend to Treat and Nurture

According to the Sheba Medical Center, women are less likely to go into “fight or flight” mode when confronted with a stressful situation due to the hormone oxytocin. Both genders produce oxytocin, but women do it at much higher levels – along with helping to strengthen sensations of closeness and intimacy, oxytocin spikes during labor and helps facilitate childbirth and breastfeeding. Oxytocin contributes to body relaxation and may lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, which may have an impact on the “fight or flight” response. 

Women also undergo many biological life experiences such as nursing, pregnancy, and child care, which along with social conditioning – women are seen as more nurturing, whereas men are expected to be stoic and unemotional – make it more likely for women to use empathy, intimate contact, and emotional expression in their everyday lives.

Thus, women tend to handle stress through turning to close friends, seeking treatment, and expressing their feelings. The good news is that even though women report higher levels of stress and of feeling overwhelmed, they are more likely to seek help and be proactive in taking charge of their stress.

Men Go Straight to “Fight or Flight”

“Fight or flight” is an automatic physiological response to external stressors, which evolved in humans as a survival mechanism. When a person perceives that they are in danger, and there is a threat, they automatically react by either preparing to fight the danger or run away to safety. While every human has a fight or flight response coded into their sympathetic nervous system, research has shown that it is more likely to be triggered in men when they are confronted with stress.

A “fight or flight” response works like this: When you perceive stress, a cascade of hormones result in a chain reaction of physiological changes that gears your body up to respond to the threat; your heart pounds, your muscles tense up, your digestion stops to save energy for the ensuing struggle.

Some men may become argumentative or angry in their “fight” state, while others are flooded with feelings of anxiety, helplessness, and frustration, driving them to look for ways to “escape” the situation through moodiness or isolation. Women are more likely to go for a “tend-and-befriend” reaction.