We talk about gender differences a lot in Psychology, and one of the significant differences we've cited in these past two units on disorders and treatments is that statistics show women are more anxious and depressed than men. What's more intriguing, though, is the reason behind this difference. In this article, published in Newsweek at the end of January, Kristina Dell says that surveys show female college freshmen report lower levels of emotional health than do their male counterparts. They key word, here, I think, is report. Like we've mentioned many times these past few weeks, because of certain female stereotypes, it is more acceptable for women to admit emotional weakness than it is for males. This does not mean males are not feeling the same way -- they are just more hesitant to report it (this statement is supported in the article by Greg Eells, director of counseling and psychological services at Cornell University).
So, though the article does mention reasons female students may truly have lower levels of emotional health than do male students, do you think the difference is mainly in the number of females willing to report such feelings compared to the number of males willing to do the same? Or do you support the argument that women are actually in worse shape? If so, which of the author's arguments would you cite as the main reason for women's lower emotional health? Further, since men do have the tendency to "wait and stew" and in many cases fail to acknowledge their problems, are they the ones who are actually in crisis?
The fact that the emotional health of incoming college freshmen is down across the board is rather startling, but I think we can all understand why. I think the difference of levels of emotional health between males and females is a combination of who is reporting it along with biological predispositions. As much as we like to think that we are “strong and powerful” women, we are genetically designed to be more emotional than males. Looking at it from an evolutionary perspective, mothers have to be nurturing and supportive in order to protect their children while the men were out hunting and farming. So maybe women do have lower levels of emotional health due to stress and anxiety, but I think it is safe to say that we have a far higher level of emotional intelligence than men do.
ReplyDeleteI think the article brought up some great points about why this gender gap exists -- relating it to how each gender makes use of free time. While men are more likely to engage in stress reducing activities such as playing basketball with ‘the boys,’ women are more likely to engage in community service or studying. From personal experience, I have noticed that far more women are present at volunteer activities that I am a part of. For example, I volunteer at Camp Sunshine, a recreational camp for children and adults with multiple mental disabilities. While there are some dedicated male volunteers who truly enjoy the experience, the female volunteers far outnumber this minority. Even in looking at the IHA community, we tend to see students completely overwhelmed by after-school activities. If the main goal is to get into college, students will join as many clubs and activities as possible just to achieve that goal. However, this is not to say that women are definitely less emotional stable than males. It is far more acceptable for women to admit emotional weakness than it is for males; and just because males do not report declining emotional health doesn’t meant that the problem does not exist.
I think that women tend to have a lesser emotional health level because we tend to have much more responsibility. Women whether it’d be a college student or mother are always stressed. I don’t know about you, but ask anyone who knows me and they will say I stress about EVERYTHING! Mothers have so much more to do- cook, clean, take care of children, etc where as men only have to worry about bills, and work. I think due to the past and with women gaining the rights and freedoms in our country attribute to the mentality of women needed to meet that “standard” and to live out the dream so many people before them achieved for them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what the article states as to how both genders tend to spend their free time differently. Women are constantly trying to push themselves with getting more involved with activities, volunteering or studying. Men on the other hand would rather put off studying and just play video games. I have no doubt that if we went to Don Bosco or Bergen or St. Joe’s that most of the boys would be doodling, not paying attention, playing games and not taking advantage of time. I know or hope I am correct when I say most IHA girls found in a study hall would be doing homework so they have one less thing to worry about. Does this not prove that point. Women’s minds set are always trying to amount to something great and almost prove to people that they need are capable of anything. I think men tend to “wait and stew” until most necessary because they don’t want to be seen as emotionally or mentally weak. Women are better to deal with because they want to recognize their problem, get help, talk about and move on; Men, not so much. I think men need to realize that it’s okay to have a lower emotional state. I think they put themselves in crisis if they do not get help right away. I still think men and women have equally low emotional health. Women are just more open about it and that’s why doctors or psychiatrists have reported that they a lower one.
With regards to the debate if females experience more anxiety or merely report it more often than men, I believe that the answer (as many do) lies somewhere in the middle of the two options. I do think that societal standards and norms may result in the stigma that it is more acceptable for females to feel emotionally weak than men. Perhaps men haul this stereotype on themselves. By any means, this may result in more reports of anxiety from females than males. However, I do think that pure biology supports the argument that women simply experience more anxiety than men. The article makes note that women relieve stress in more engaged (and, in my opinion, just as stressful) activities such as participating in community service or talking to friends. Also noted is how women take criticism more sharply and find more situations negative, internalizing both these memories and criticisms. To me, the source of these fundamental differences between females and males are hormones. It isn't just that females are viewed as more emotional; we've naturally got a lot more estrogen in our systems, which results in stronger emotions and feelings. Anxiety definitely arises not simply from the events surrounding one's daily life, but also how they feel about these events & situations. This could be why females are more anxious and thenceforth report their anxiety. Overall, the male/female anxiety contrast may definitely be a blend of the two perspectives.
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ReplyDeleteThis article talks about how women tend to have a lower mental health than men. One reason the author mentions is that men engage in stress-reducing activities like video-games or sports, and women engage in stress creating activities such as studying or volunteer work. This is so true! My little brothers are always playing outside avoiding their stress. I on the other hand will study the entire day, I could not even think of going outside or watching television when I know I have a big test the next day.
ReplyDeleteThe article also mentions that women will take insults very personally even if they weren’t meant to be that way at all. An example was “In one of my classes, a professor came over and said to a guy, ‘That project isn’t the best I’ve ever seen.’ He was fine with it, but my girlfriend said, ‘I would have felt so horrible if he had said that to me!’” Women always want to please, and I think that is something that lowers their mental health. Women cannot make everyone happy all the time and that bothers some women sometimes.
Another reason why women are reported to have lower mental health is because they are more likely to get help at low levels of stress. Women are not afraid to get help when they need it, but men will wait until the situation is out of their control to receive help. This is because they need to keep their macho attitude.
I agree completely with the statement "the emotional health of incoming college freshmen is down across the board" in this article. This weekend I was talking with my dance teacher who is probably in her mid thirties about what it was like when she went to high school. She grew up in my town so it is interesting to talk to her about what it was like twenty years ago. She says she absolutely loved high school and she doesn’t see her daughter, who is a junior, loving it as much as she does. The main reason she believes we aren't enjoying high school as much as students have enjoyed it in the past is because we have too much stress. I agree completely! Stress is what ruins our time in high school and is what causes our emotional health to decline.
ReplyDeleteI am strongly for the argument that female students have lower levels of emotional health than do male students. I think that this argument can be supported by the fact that we actually are in worse shape, not the fact that females are more willing to report it more than males are. Women have so much to worry about and are constantly trying to do more. Whether it is joining an extra club, volunteering an extra day, or doing some extra work to get ahead, women are constantly doing something. I think females try to do too much that they spread themselves too thin which causes even more emotional stress on the person.
However, I do agree with Bridget's question- since men have the tendency to "wait and stew," they are the ones who are actually in crisis. All men try to seem "macho." I think that it takes a lot of courage for a man to admit he is having a problem. By the time he admits it, he is probably in really rough shape because he has probably tried to keep it a secret for so long. I personally believe that men should get away from the "macho" mentality and realize it is normal to be going through a rough time.
It's hard to fully understand what makes the difference between males and females when we each only see one side of the picture, and we all see the same side here. But I think this article, as well as all of our class discussions on the topic, come very close to the point of the argument. I think a lot of research and surveys are tainted by a gender bias--women seem to be more likely to reveal how they're feeling and seek answers, explanations, help, or treatment. Like the article said, the rates of suicide in male college students are significantly higher than for female college students, and I think that statistic says a lot about how males think it is "unmanly" or "a feminine thing" to ask for help. It even comes down to the stereotype that men are less likely to ask for directions when they're lost. Society has this unwritten rule that men should be able to take care of themselves all the time, but women are allowed, and actually encouraged, to seek help.
ReplyDeleteI think another important factor in why women generally have a lower mental health when they get to college has to do with the kinds of activities they're involved in. This is obviously not true all of the time. I know plenty of guys who are involved with as many activities of substance as some girls are. But I do think it's very telling that females are generally involved in more stress-filled activities and responsibilities. My brother is involved in a lot of clubs and activities that bring on a certain amount of stress, like Model UN. But he also spends a lot of time playing video games--more time than any girl I know spends on an activity like that. I think girls feel like there's not a lot of in-between: either you do a lot with the little time you have, or you're lazy and spend more time relaxing than being productive. This perception is misleading- everyone needs some time to zone out for a little bit and build back some energy. However, females more often than males act on this pressure to always be doing something productive. I think if more females learned how to take a break every once and a while, their mental health might bounce back to where the male standard for reported mental health is.
i thought it was interesting that this article addressed that internalization could be a problem. I definitely think that's true. I think men are overall just more even-keeled than women are and when something goes wrong, a lot of times, they just let it roll off thair backs--whereas, women may harvest those feelings and just let the anxiety fester, and ultimate decline in their well-being.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the article when it said that guys deflect their feelings with distractions. Socially, it is more acceptable for a guy to just "move on" from a situation. Like we've said in class, after a break-up the girls are generally the ones with the huge tub of ice cream crying; the guys are the ones playing football with their friends an hour later. What would happen if those roles reversed (the girls were the ones out with their friends, and the guys were the ones left in sorrow)? The fact that girls are more willing to talk about their feelings does help them through things, but it also makes them the target for this type of research--we look like the ones that are more emotionally unstable. In reality, those statistics may be a lot closer than reported.
In college, I also think girls put a lot of pressure on themselves to become involved in every club on campus, adding more stress; whereas, guys do more relaxing activities, like playing video games or working out--natural stress relievers. This adds to the stress girls feel because they attempt to be a part of everything and give 100% of themselves to all clubs they've joined. Sometimes it's just impossible and they are spread too thin.
Another major component--I think is that women are more critical of themselves. Women are more likely to point out their flaws than men are, so, on surveys, like the one talked about in the article, women's stress level and emotional instability are at an all time high, where men's may just be average.
I think that the author's point about the fact that females engage in much more stressful extracurricular activities such as coordinating volunteer efforts and being in clubs is definitely on point even by looking at girls and guys in high school. Many of the IHA girls dedicate a lot of their time outside of school to volunteering or different clubs, while our male counterparts over at the Catholic boys' schools play video games together. Granted, a lot of this is driven by the highly competitive fight for college acceptance. Another argument the article cited for why girls report lower emotional health is because women are more critical of themselves. I think that this relates to the other article that was posted about girls being very critical of each other. Because many girls are constantly trying to compete with each other, it puts more stress on them to constantly do better and push themselves. This added pressure and stress leaves little time for down time with the additional stress of academics. Another important point that I think the article made was the financial component as to why emotional wellness rates were down for college students. With the economy the way it is, many students are struggling with how to pay for college. This means work-study, loans, and additional jobs which contributes to an overall higher stress level.
ReplyDeleteI got a bit defensive reading this article. women are less likely capable of holding it together psychologically? It does make us sounds weak, but I know that is not the point of this article. I think we have a tendency to overload our lives with stress and work while men take whatever comes their way and deal with is one step at a time. I know at least thats a major difference between my brother and I. I don't think it has anything to do with our psychological capabilities; i think we just think differently than men and put more pressure on ourselves. While men like to think they're invincible and nothing bad will ever happen, we prepare for the worst and work even harder in hope to avoid disasters.
ReplyDeleteI think college is a big change in most people’s life so it is normal that people are more stressed and “struggling to hold it together psychologically.” I don’t necessarily think that men or women are affected more or that we should be more concerned with one gender over the other. While “college-aged guys are four times as likely to commit suicide as college-aged women”, this does not necessarily mean that men have lower mental health. As we have discussed in class, men often more successfully commit suicide because they are more likely to shoot themselves while women often try overdosing and can be saved. While I don’t think we need to be concerned with one gender over the other, I can see why women have reported a lower mental health rating. Women often are more stressed than men in part because they let more things bother them and hold onto bad memories longer. If two boys get in a fight, they might throw a punch or something and then make up. Girls are catty and can hold grudges for a very long time. Women also tend to internalize negative experiences. In class girls are more likely to take a professor’s comments to heart instead of taking it as constructive criticism and just letting it go. I also think that boys are expected to just deal with things while girls are expected to get help which contributes to why the reported rate differs.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the lower levels of emotional health in women come from the role society has assigned them. Whenever you hear guys talking about different girls, you sometimes hear the words crazy, emotional, nuts, etc. attached to those conversations. Whenever a boyfriend is complaining about his girlfriend, it is almost always because she is “being crazy” or “having a breakdown.” Based on this stereotype, girls are expected to sit around in circles venting to their friends. Society has assigned men and women two very different roles. It is deemed completely acceptable, and almost expected, for a woman to have a low level of emotional health. It is completely normal for a woman to vent and talk about how depressed she is, which is where the reports factor comes into play. Most women are willing to admit when they are depressed. This is the exact opposite for men. Society has deemed it ‘weird’ and out of the social norm for a man to admit he is depressed. Most men don’t go around willing to share their problems with all their friends. When a guy has an issue he takes it out by going to the gym and lifting heavy weights until he collapses. Due to these stereotypes it would not be completely objective to base this topic off of self-reports. It would definitely have a bias factor involved.
ReplyDeleteI do however think that women may actually have lower levels of emotional health, apart from the roles society has assigned them. As a girl reading this article, I was definitely able to relate to the section that said women are more likely to take criticism personally than guys are. I know from personal experience that sometimes when a teacher criticizes me, I take it personally, and wonder what the teacher has against me.
I think that this “report” can only be used as a report and nothing more than that for the reason of women being more likely to talk about how they are feeling. We talk about this all the time in class (because it pertains to almost every single thing we talk about), but I think that in general women are more willing to talk and be social which leads them to not being shy about having emotional problems. From what I have observed between my brothers, friends and fellow students is that girls are more likely to come out and say how they really feel. I mean I know my brothers rarely (if ever) talk about their emotions(at least with me).
ReplyDeleteI feel like the first paragraph/few sentences were supposed to be of shock to the reader—but it was not at all to me. “But a new survey on stress in college freshmen reveals something the stats won’t tell you: as they arrive on campus for orientation, more and more women are struggling to hold it together psychologically.” This is not a shock at all to me! In general girls become flustered about things more easily, and being in this new environment will bring out all their issues times ten. Not only does this new environment create a scene change, but people have a million new stresses while on campus—food, exercise, roommates, classes and gym. Boys and girls both have to deal with all these issues, but I do believe that girls are more open about how they are feeling and their emotional issues. Even if a boy is feeling stress or pressure he is most likely not going to tell people around him.
One thing I found very interesting in this article is that men give time to stress relieving activities whereas women engage in activities that promote stress. Maybe we need to think about that next time we enter to kitchen to cook as a way to escape our problems/stress!
The following quote really meant something to me: "The emotional health of incoming college freshmen is down across the board." I think this is completely true. I'm going to Fordham next fall, my dad's alma mater. After I got in, he was talking to me about how Fordham's a different school now than it was when he went. Every school is getting more competitive and every one is being held to higher standards. We are expected to have a high GPA, high SATs, extracurriculars galore, while still maintaining our sanity and social lives. It's a lot to handle, and can be overwhelming. I think this accounts for the declining emotional health across the board.
ReplyDeleteI think females report lower emotional satisfaction simply because they are more emotional and more likely to admit that they have some distress. If men report emotional problems, they'd probably get made fun of for it by their friends. Whereas if a girl reports emotional distress, her friends will probably rally around her and make her feel better. It is simply easier for women to admit when they need help (Have you ever seen a man willingly ask for directions?) I think another key factor for this conclusion is that women are simply more emotional. Women have a tendency to overthink and hold ourselves to very high standards. Women will freak out about every aspect of their lives, where men are typically more relaxed. This is not to mean that women are weak, I think our emotions are simply more extreme and prominent in our daily lives.
I think that women actually are in worse shape then men. Coming from my possibly distorted views from the movie "He's Just Not That Into You" and experience with a teenage brother, I really think that as much as we WANT boys to have the same feelings and think the same way we do, they just don't. Sure sometimes we see breakthroughs in the male species when something has a real impact on them like a break up or a death, but in reality the other things that we as girls think should matter really don't. Although this is all generalization, girls are notorious for over thinking and over analyzing everything. How couldn't that make someone crazy? Boys tend to be simpler and "go with the flow." Personally I think it's logical to say that the reason boys are generally calmer than girls in life is because in the end, they make the final decision on our future. Traditionally, boys ask girls out; Boys take girls to prom; Boys propose. It seems like our life is compromised by the mindless decisions of males... and this frustrates us. So in conclusion as much as we all wish boys saw things our way, in reality they're just as simple as they present themselves.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there are many factors that go into the reason that data shows female college freshmen report lower levels of emotional health than do their male counterparts. The biggest, however, I do think deals with the fact that it is more socially acceptable for women to express their emotions. Women are not afraid to tell people when they are emotionally struggling, as opposed to men, who will be looked at as weak. Men are definitely more hesitant to report their struggles compared to women. However, I also believe that women bring this emotional stress on themselves many of the time. The author’s point that females engage in much more stressful extracurricular activities is very true. Women are more likely to take leadership positions in clubs and activities. This comes with a lot of responsibility that can easily cause stress and low levels of emotional health. Most men tend to be more relaxed and not caring when it comes to activities. They do not get as stressed as easily compared to women so their emotional health will not be as low.
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