A Woman's Response to Stress

Stress evokes strong reactions that seem to be hardwired into the human brain, but researchers recently revealed that stress-coping tactics are very different in men and women. A UCLA study published in an issue of Psychological Review claims that the clichéd "flight or fight" response to stress applies only to men, not women. In the face of stress, women have a much different reaction, instead focusing on social relations -- what the researchers termed a "tend and befriend" response.

According to a report released by UCLA, the study "based its findings on analysis of hundreds of biological and behavioral studies of response to stress by thousands of humans and animal subjects." It was revealed that rather than fleeing or becoming belligerent as was previously assumed, women seek social contact, especially with other women, and spend time nurturing their children, to cope with stress.

Chemical or Evolutional?

In a stressful situation, both sexes produce the hormone oxytocin. Shelley E. Taylor, the principal investigator of the report, suggests that this hormone has a significant effect on the body and "animals and people with high levels of oxytocin are calmer, more relaxed, more social and less anxious. In several animal species, oxytocin leads to maternal behavior and to affiliation." But the way this hormone reacts with the gender-specific hormones estrogen and testosterone marks an end to the similarities between male and female stress reaction. The testosterone in men counteracts the calming effects of oxytocin, while women's estrogen enhances it.

Although this gender-based difference is believed to be hormonal, it may have an evolutionary bent. As the traditional protector of children, a "fight or flight" response would be unsafe for pregnant women, and prevent women from shielding their children from impending danger. Women developed a distinctive response that allows them to build relationships and form unions that benefit them and their offspring, taking advantage of the safety of a group.

Women's calmer response may also help to explain why fewer women than men fall prey to stress-related disorders, such as drug or alcohol abuse and hypertension. By facing stressful situations coolly, women keep their bodies healthier and Taylor speculates that the "tend and befriend" response may hold clues to why women on average live longer than men.