Gender Differences and Stress Resilience Neal Krause University of Michigan Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Major Themes Is it more important to give social support than to receive social support? Do men benefit more from giving social support than women? Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Theoretical Tasks Religious institutions as important social settings for providing social support The process of providing support in religious institutions How men might benefit more than women when they support others in religious institutions Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Why Supporting Others in Religious Institutions is Important Complying with the basic tenets of religion bolsters self-esteem Providing support to others gives support providers a respite from their own problems Helping others makes support providers more cognizant of the things that are important in their lives Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Two Studies on Providing Support to Others and Mortality Brown, S. L., Nesse, R.M., Vinokur, A.D., & Smith, D. M. (2003). Providing social support may be more beneficial than receiving it: Results from a prospective study of mortality. Psychological Science, 14, 320-327. Krause, N. (2006). Church-based social support and mortality. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 57B, S332-S347. Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

How Religious Institutions May Help Men Give Social Support Religious institutions put an emphasis on helping others Religious institutions provide structured settings that make helping others easier. Bible study groups, prayer groups, formal volunteer work Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Study Data and Measures Landmark Spirituality and Health Survey (2015) All adults age 18 and older N = 3,010 Took blood samples Outcome: “bad” cholesterol Stress measure: ongoing financial strain Social support measure: emotional support received from and provided to fellow church members Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Main Study Findings Women give and receive more social support than men. Helping others offsets the effects of financial strain on cholesterol, but only among men and not among women. Receiving social support does not buffer the effects of economic problems on cholesterol for either men or women. Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Additional Data Analyses Men do not appear to benefit from providing social support to others outside of religious institutions There are no age differences in the data Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019

Take Home Messages Giving social support may be more important than receiving social support When studying gender differences in the stress process, don’t forget men and the special issues they face Neal Krause, "Sex and Gender Differences in Aging" June 6-7, 2019