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Gender differences in mental and physical illness: The effects of fixed roles and nurturant roles

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  • Gove, Walter R.

Abstract

A decade ago it was widely assumed that there were no gender differences in mental illness/mental health and that any evidence that suggested that women experienced more psychological distress than men was due to women being more willing to admit to psychological distress, being more willing to seek treatment and/or sex bias on the part of clinicians. Furthermore, although it was widely recognized that on most indicators of physical illness women appeared to have higher rates of morbidity, it was generally assumed that the apparent higher rates of women did not reflect real differences in morbidity, but gender differences in illness behavior. A survey of the recent literature, however, shows that there is now a general c consensus among social scientists that women experience more psychological distress than men and that this is largely due to aspects of their societal roles. Furthermore, in the last few years the cumulative evidence indicates that women do in fact have higher rates of morbidity than men and that this probably is also largely a consequence of their social roles. The present paper focuses on two aspects of the roles typically occupied by men and women, namely that the roles of men tended to be more structured or 'fixed' than the roles of women, while women are more likely to occupy nurturant roles than men. It is argued that highly structured or 'fixed' roles tend to be causally related to good mental health and low rates of morbidity. In contrast nurturant roles tend to impose a strain and to impair one's ability to effectively adopt a sick role and as a consequence nurturant roles are linked to poor mental health and the higher rates of morbidity. In short, it is suggested that the fixed role-hypothesis and the nurturant role hypothesis complement each other and together partially explain the higher rates of physical illness and psychological distress among women.

Suggested Citation

  • Gove, Walter R., 1984. "Gender differences in mental and physical illness: The effects of fixed roles and nurturant roles," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 77-84, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:19:y:1984:i:2:p:77-84
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    2. Chen, Xi & Wang, Tianyu & Busch, Susan H., 2019. "Does money relieve depression? Evidence from social pension expansions in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 411-420.
    3. Syed Hasan & Odmaa Narantungalag, & Martin Berka, 2022. "The intended and unintended consequences of large electricity subsidies: evidence from Mongolia," Discussion Papers 2202, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    4. Raquel Sánchez-Recio & Cristina García-Ael & Gabriela Topa, 2021. "Influence of Gender Determinants on Informal Care and Health Service Utilization in Spain: Ten Years after the Approval of the Equality Law," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Thomeer, Mieke Beth & Reczek, Corinne & Umberson, Debra, 2015. "Relationship dynamics around depression in gay and lesbian couples," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 38-46.
    6. Nithima Sumpradit & Richard P. Bagozzi & Frank J. Ascione, 2015. "“Give Me Happiness” or “Take Away My Pain”: Explaining consumer responses to prescription drug advertising," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1024926-102, December.
    7. Syed Hasan & Odmaa Narantungalag, & Martin Berka, 2022. "No pain, no gain? Mining pollution and morbidity," Discussion Papers 2203, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    8. D'Ovidio, Fabrizio & d'Errico, Angelo & Scarinzi, Cecilia & Costa, Giuseppe, 2015. "Increased incidence of coronary heart disease associated with “double burden” in a cohort of Italian women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 40-46.
    9. Geraldine Macdonald & Brian Sheldon, 1997. "Community Care Services for the Mentally Ill: Consumers' Views," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 43(1), pages 35-55, March.
    10. Molly A. Martin & Margaret Gough Courtney & Adam M. Lippert, 2022. "The Risks and Consequences of Skipping Meals for Low-Income Mothers," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2613-2644, December.
    11. Hailemariam, Abebe & Yew, Siew Ling & Appau, Samuelson, 2021. "Gender health gaps: The role of risky addictive behaviors," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 639-660.
    12. Hill, Terrence D. & Needham, Belinda L., 2013. "Rethinking gender and mental health: A critical analysis of three propositions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 83-91.
    13. Anikó Bíró & Réka Branyiczki & Péter Elek, 2021. "The Effect of Involuntary Retirement on Healthcare Use and Health Status," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2122, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    14. Anikó Bíró & Réka Branyiczki & Péter Elek, 2022. "The effect of involuntary retirement on healthcare use," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(6), pages 1012-1032, June.

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