Differences in the perception of the influence of life events in men and women

Gender differences in the perception of life events, both positive and negative, were investigated. Past events (more than a year earlier) and present events (one year or less) were studied. Participants were 499 persons, 182 males and 317 females, 14 to 65 years old. The Inventory of Relationships Between Personality and Life Events and Relevant Persons (Clemente, 1994) was applied to the participants. Differences were found in men and women concerning economic, laboral, personal and affective areas. Men, independently of age and time period, considered more influencial the economic and laboral areas; women considered more influencial the personal and affective areas. Results confirmed previous research regarding gender differences in these areas. The relevance of this investigation consists in taking into consideration both positive and negative events, and different time periods.