Gender differences in perceptions of stressors and utilization of social support among university students

Although researchers have found that social support is an effective coping mechanism to deal with stress, there has been little research on gender differences in perceived stress and use of social support. In the present study, 186 undergraduate students from a Maritime university rated the perceived stressfulness of five scenarios, and identified the type and source of social support they would use to cope with each of the situations. Women perceived three of the five scenarios as significantly more stressful than did men. Women indicated that they would turn to their partner and friends to a greater extent than men would. Women also reported that they would seek emotional support to a greater degree than did men. However, when the perceived stressfulness of the scenarios was controlled, some of the gender differences in the sources and types of support disappeared.