The Relationship between Gender and Stress Levels in Undergraduate University Students - Report Example

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENDER AND STRESS LEVELS IN UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS 21st August, 2008 ABSTRACT Stress is the emotional and physical strain caused by an individual’s reaction to the hassle and anxiety created by the outside world or the external environment. Tension, irritability, lack of concentration, headache, frustration all are signs of stress. This paper deals with the collection of data from numerous participants to judge their stress level by means of a questionnaire designed by Looker and Gregson. The paper reveals the differences in stress levels between male and female students Based on the scores derived, a deduction was made, according to which stress was highly discernible among the male in comparison with the females. Both the sexes were found with a similar spread of standard deviation. However among the categorizations of ‘Very Low Stress’, ‘Low Stress’, ‘Mid Point’, ‘High Stress’ and ‘Very High Stress’, participants were classified under the ‘Low Stress’ category. It’s impossible to avoid stress completely from one’s life but at the same time proper control and effective measures need to be taken for a smooth functioning of the body system. The study also aims to make the participants aware about the symptoms and harmful affects of stress in the course of their daily living. INTRODUCTION Stress is a negative emotional experience, accompanied by predictable physiological, cognitive and behavioral changes so that the positive changes could be made to trim down the harmful effects of stress (Sayiner B, 2006). Stress is a part of student’s life and can come from numerous sources from internal and external surroundings of their respective environment. Students can be affected by stress in various ways such as physical, mental and emotional disturbances and distress. Physical factors could lead to are heart pounding, headaches, sweaty palms, indigestion, sleeplessness, and tight stomach, while emotional could result in depressed, anxious, and hostile behavior (Ditkofsky G N., 2004). Students could be affected by stress due to academic demands, personal aspirations or because of high expectations of oneself and others as well. However possessing a personal sense of control is a vital factor in curbing stress. To emphasize especially on a students life, stressful situations could be managed and controlled if a sense of belongingness to the academic community is imparted to the students. For this faculty can play a key role in introducing and welcoming students to that community. Stress can even lead to fatal results, such as suicidal attempts etc. as per the statistics collected, almost 50 percent dropout rate is observed between the fresher and the graduation year students even linking ineffective coping to clinical depression (Whitman, Neal A. 1987). Creating awareness about the causes of stress and the preventive measures to control it is an effective way to safeguard the student’s vivacity and subsistence. Stress inoculation is applied to give students realistic warnings, recommendations, and reassurances. Giving oneself a break from the routine work, maintaining a healthy diet, relaxing, exercising etc are effectual ways to keep aside from the perils of stress. Stress is as much part of the university or college life as writing papers and making new friends, the only need is to recognize it and face it astutely and circumspectly. Past researches have also found out that the men who portray conventional and casual personality roles observe less stress than women who display traditional gender roles while women who depict traditional gender roles perceived more stress than men who exhibit traditional personality role and make use of the emotion-focused coping style (Drum Heller L, viewed on 20th August, 2008). Women generally base their stress copying strategy by applying and utilizing emotion- focused coping style while men are more inclined towards the problem focused coping style. To apply the stress buster techniques women may utilize emotional support obtained from others more than men while men may employ influential and informational support obtained from others more than women (Day, Arla L, Livingstone, Holly A, 2003). When it comes to the perception and handling of stress, men and women display completely characteristics and approach to deal with the demanding and taxing situations. Another important perspective in considering the gender differences and the variable of sources in stress management is the gender role socialization. Women are more inclined towards adopting a dependent, emotional, and supportive temperament thereby increasing their span of social support networks in compared to men who demonstrate a more reserved, cold and independent personality (Drum Heller, viewed on 22nd August, 2008). The main purpose of this study is to examine the stress level of students based on certain variables and finding out the intensity of stress level in two sexes. The Hypothesis of the study is – H1- the level of stress in male students is more than in female students. H2 – A nominal level of stress exists among the participants ranging from lower to mid level stress measurement parameters. METHOD DESIGN The design of the experiment included the independent variable is the level of stress and the impact of the stress on the gender serves as a dependant variable. The same questionnaire was handed over to all the participants, keeping in mind that a cool and calm environment was maintained without any disturbances or instability in the external environment. The participants comfort was taken as the prime consideration. PARTICIPANTS The participants of this study are 20 students belonging to various study fields with distinct individual characteristics and traits. 20 male participants and 20 female participants were questioned. The mean age calculated was 25 Years with a maximum age limit of 40 years and a minimum age limit of 18 years. The sampling was categorized Non-probability or Non-random Sampling head, under which Convenience sampling was preferred. MATERIALS The materials which were used in conducting the experiment mainly comprised of a questionnaire drafted by Looker and Gregson and named as ‘Looker and Gregson's Self-Assessment Questionnaire’ – Signs and Symptoms of Stress. The questionnaire comprises of 20 questions in all revealing the opinions and answers of the participants analyzing the effect from the past one month. Questions such as – “During the last month have you been…easily irritated by people or trivial events? Has to be answered by marking one of the four given options: Response: 0 – Almost never, 1 – Some times, 2 – Most of the time, 3 – Almost all of the time. Responses were scored between the range of 1 and 30, maximum falling within the 18 and 25 bracket. The scores obtained reveal that the stress factors varied between low and high range of stress level, answers did not support a very high stress score or scores which required acute considerations. PROCEDURE The participants were approached in a very friendly manner with a self introduction and explaining the reason for conducting an experiment. The participants were informed that the research intended to look for to fill in a questionnaire about stress as it was a part of the study of psychology. It was also checked whether the participant had already appeared for such an exercise or not. There consent was taken before initiating the test. The members were also informed about the general nature of the study, their right to not to be deceived unnecessarily and freedom to withdraw from the study at any point of time. They were assured that their data would be made anonymous and only group data would be reported. They were fully debriefed at the end of the data collection. They were requested to fill in the questionnaire in their own time but not to take too long over each question, just to give their 'gut' response. The participants were told that the different 'symptoms' of stress listed on the questionnaire were fairly common, and the differences in stress levels between male and female students and the collected data will be analyzed further. The doubts and queries posed by the members were answered to the best of the ability. At the end of the task, participants were thanked for extending a patient and supportive hand for the accomplishment of the task. RESULTS Gender Mean Stress Score Standard Deviation Number of Participants Male 15 5.0 20 Female 14.2 5.1 20 The mean scores suggest that males had higher levels of stress than females. The standard deviations show a similar spread of scores for both sexes. Raw data can be see in appendix 1. DISCUSSION Many people believed that stress triggered them on occasions when they had no one to confide into, or when they were hit by a failure or cried or developed an urge to cry. There is statistically significant difference between genders for stress level of physical environment, social environment and self-interpretation, when questions such as Felt unable to cope? Failed to accomplish tasks / jobs before moving on to the next, leaving jobs incomplete? Found it difficult to make decisions? Felt tired most of the time? Were probed. The hypothesis was true in the sense that the level of stress in male students was more with a mean stress score of 15 than in female stress score which was 14.2. A nominal level of stress existed among the participants ranging from lower to mid level, maximum scores range from 12 to 25 out of 60. The study can be conducted with a more number of participants involved for higher accuracy and specific results. Previous studies have also stated that there exists a vast difference in the gender stress levels which is also observed currently in the experiment conducted (Anderson M K, Manuel G. 1994). To gain confidence of the members if difficult, hence biasness in answering the questions is a limitation which certainly affects the results obtained. To delve deeper into the topic, a specific categorization of age could be entertained so that correlations between different determinants could be analyzed. REFERENCES 1. Ditkofsky G N. Jan 2004. Stress and the Student. Viewed on 22nd August, 2008, http://www.mcmaster.ca/health/hwc/Student%20Writers/stress_and_students.htm 2. Whitman, Neal A. 1987. Reducing Stress among Students. ERIC Digest, Viewed on 22nd August, 2008, http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-926/reducing.htm, 3. Anderson M K, Manuel G. 1994. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Vol. 30, Gender differences in reported stress response to the Loma Prieta earthquake. Viewed on 22nd August, 2008, http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=LnCQ69T39GDgZ2MlrqVdQ4G3NVyyK1wmyKVQz7M1n9LBSXJvqpQ5!-64009190?docId=5000233404 4. Day, Arla L, Livingstone, Holly A. April 2003. Gender differences in perceptions of stressors and utilization of social support among university students. Viewed on 22nd August, 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3717/is_200304/ai_n9225899- 5. Drum Heller L. Running head: Gender Differences In Stress And Coping Styles. Viewed on 22nd August, 2008. http://nreilly.asp.radford.edu/p611%20papers%202005/lauren%20drumheller.doc.- 6. Sayiner B. Feb 2006. Stress Level of University Students. Viewed on 22nd August, 2008, http://www.iticu.edu.tr/Kutuphane/dergi/f10/M00134.pdf APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 Raw Data: All students studying pyschology Participant Number: 20 Gender Age Questionnaire Score out of 60 F = Female 1. F 18 15 2. F 20 17 3. F 18 15 4. F 19 25 5. F 18 9 6. F 18 9 7. F 19 25 8. F 20 17 9. F 18 7 10. F 19 12 11. F 40 1 12. F 25 8 13. F 27 12 14. F 29 15 15. F 29 17 16. F 36 12 17. F 40 30 18. F 25 17 19. F 35 8 20. F 28 17 APPENDIX 2 Looker and Gregson's Self-Assessment Questionnaire Signs and symptoms of well-being QUESTIONS Response: 0 – Almost never 1 – Some times 2 – Most of the time 3 – Almost all of the time During the last month have you been… 1. Been easily irritated by people or trivial events? 2. Felt impatient? 3. Felt unable to cope? 4. Felt a failure? 5. Found it difficult to make decisions? 6. Lost interest in other people? 7. Felt you had no one to confide in or talk to about your problems? 8. Found it difficult to concentrate? 9. Failed to accomplish tasks / jobs before moving on to the next, leaving jobs incomplete? 10. Felt neglected in any way? 11. Tried to do too many things at once? 12. Felt on edge or unhappy? 13. Been uncharacteristically aggressive? 14. Felt bored? 15. Been drinking, smoking or eating more than usual? 16. Lost interest in things you normally enjoy? 17. Cried or had the desire to cry? 18. Felt tired most of the time? 19. Suffered from any of the following more frequently? Back & neck pain, headaches, muscular aches & pains, muscular spasms & cramps, constipation, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, heartburn, indigestion & nausea. 20. Do two or more of the following apply to you? Bite your nails, clench your fists, drum your fingers, grind your teeth, hunch your shoulders, tap your feet, have trouble falling or staying asleep Read More

For this faculty can play a key role in introducing and welcoming students to that community. Stress can even lead to fatal results, such as suicidal attempts etc. as per the statistics collected, almost 50 percent dropout rate is observed between the fresher and the graduation year students even linking ineffective coping to clinical depression (Whitman, Neal A. 1987). Creating awareness about the causes of stress and the preventive measures to control it is an effective way to safeguard the student’s vivacity and subsistence.

Stress inoculation is applied to give students realistic warnings, recommendations, and reassurances. Giving oneself a break from the routine work, maintaining a healthy diet, relaxing, exercising etc are effectual ways to keep aside from the perils of stress. Stress is as much part of the university or college life as writing papers and making new friends, the only need is to recognize it and face it astutely and circumspectly. Past researches have also found out that the men who portray conventional and casual personality roles observe less stress than women who display traditional gender roles while women who depict traditional gender roles perceived more stress than men who exhibit traditional personality role and make use of the emotion-focused coping style (Drum Heller L, viewed on 20th August, 2008).

Women generally base their stress copying strategy by applying and utilizing emotion- focused coping style while men are more inclined towards the problem focused coping style. To apply the stress buster techniques women may utilize emotional support obtained from others more than men while men may employ influential and informational support obtained from others more than women (Day, Arla L, Livingstone, Holly A, 2003). When it comes to the perception and handling of stress, men and women display completely characteristics and approach to deal with the demanding and taxing situations.

Another important perspective in considering the gender differences and the variable of sources in stress management is the gender role socialization. Women are more inclined towards adopting a dependent, emotional, and supportive temperament thereby increasing their span of social support networks in compared to men who demonstrate a more reserved, cold and independent personality (Drum Heller, viewed on 22nd August, 2008). The main purpose of this study is to examine the stress level of students based on certain variables and finding out the intensity of stress level in two sexes.

The Hypothesis of the study is – H1- the level of stress in male students is more than in female students. H2 – A nominal level of stress exists among the participants ranging from lower to mid level stress measurement parameters. METHOD DESIGN The design of the experiment included the independent variable is the level of stress and the impact of the stress on the gender serves as a dependant variable. The same questionnaire was handed over to all the participants, keeping in mind that a cool and calm environment was maintained without any disturbances or instability in the external environment.

The participants comfort was taken as the prime consideration. PARTICIPANTS The participants of this study are 20 students belonging to various study fields with distinct individual characteristics and traits. 20 male participants and 20 female participants were questioned. The mean age calculated was 25 Years with a maximum age limit of 40 years and a minimum age limit of 18 years. The sampling was categorized Non-probability or Non-random Sampling head, under which Convenience sampling was preferred.

MATERIALS The materials which were used in conducting the experiment mainly comprised of a questionnaire drafted by Looker and Gregson and named as ‘Looker and Gregson's Self-Assessment Questionnaire’ – Signs and Symptoms of Stress. The questionnaire comprises of 20 questions in all revealing the opinions and answers of the participants analyzing the effect from the past one month.

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