Do you and your partner react very differently to stressful situations? Turns out, it could be more than just personalities at play: Stress has opposite social effects on men and women, according to a new study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
The researchers were specifically interested in how stress affects your ability to identify with other people and see their POV. Since previous research found that higher anxiety is linked to lower empathy, the researchers assumed that when people got tense, they would lose some of that ability and become more self-centered.
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They tested this on 64 participants by first jacking up their stress levels through assignments like public speaking and mental math. Then they had them complete three tasks in which they had to imitate movements, recognize someone else’s emotions, and follow instructions by taking on someone else's perspective.
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Well, the researchers' hypothesis held—but only for the men. Stress worsened their performance in all three tasks, while the opposite was true for women. Essentially, when men get frazzled, they become self-centered; but when women get anxious, they're prosocial and empathetic.
The researchers didn't study why this might happen, but study researcher Giorgia Silani of the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy did offer up some theories in a press release: For one, women may be more likely to recognize that they get support from others when they connect with them, and so they become more social when they're stressed and need that support most. Another possibility has to do with oxytocin, a hormone that's connected to social behavior. "A previous study found that in conditions of stress, women had higher physiological levels of oxytocin than men," said Siliani in the press release. Basically, women's bodies and minds are more likely to seek out support in times of stress, while men's are more likely to withdraw.
Regardless of the reasoning, it's interesting to see how differently men and women respond to stress and how it might affect your relationship. And, real talk: This totally explains why most guys retreat to their Xbox after a stressful day at work while you require a serious venting session with your friends.
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