The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Sex Differences in Health: Evidence and Explanations 375

Job Characteristics

One social role that men and women occupy

is their work role. Men work at more hazard-

ous jobs compared to women. According to

the U.S. Department of Labor (2010a), men

account for 57% of the hours worked but

93% of fatal work injuries. The sex differ-

ence in fatalities likely reflects men working

in riskier jobs than women. Fatal work inju-

ries are most likely to occur in jobs having to

do with agriculture/forestry, mining, trans-

portation, and construction—industries in

which more men than women work. Men,

especially Black men, are more likely to be ex-

posed to hazardous substances at work, such

as asbestos that has been linked to lung cancer

(Waldron, 1995). A study of adults in England

and Wales found that the sex difference in life

expectancy was smaller for professionals and

managerial workers than manual unskilled

workers (Donkin, Goldblatt, & Lynch, 2002).

Men’s labor at home also includes

more risks than women’s labor at home. For

example, men are more likely to be the ones

who repair electrical problems and climb on

the roof to fix a leak.

Driving

Driving is part of men’s social role. Men

drive more than women, and when men and

women are together, men typically drive.

Men drive faster and take more risks while

driving. A study of twelfth graders showed

that men engage in riskier driving, are more

likely to be cited for traffic offenses, and are

more likely to get in accidents than women

(Elliott et al., 2006). Thus it is not surpris-

ing that men have a higher rate of fatal au-

tomobile accidents than women at all ages

(U.S. Department of Transportation, 2008b).

Women also are more likely than men to

wear a seat belt (86% vs. 79%), although this

of jobs men and women hold are different

and sex-stereotypical. Women are more

likely to be employed in education and ser-

vice industries, whereas men are more likely

to be employed in agriculture and industry.

Nonetheless, Leviatan and Cohen found that

sex differences in life expectancies on the

kibbutz were smaller than those in the gen-

eral population, largely due to an increase

in men’s life expectancy. Leviatan and Co-

hen suggest men may have had more social

support on the kibbutz and may have been

faced with fewer sources of male gender-

role strain.

In a second study of people on a kib-

butz (Anson, Levenson, & Bonneh, 1990),

an array of health outcomes were examined,

and sex differences appeared on only two of

them—in the direction opposite to that pre-

viously discussed in this chapter. Women

rated their subjective health as higher than

men, and women were less disabled than

men. There were no sex differences in psy-

chological distress, physical symptoms,

health behaviors, chronic illnesses, restricted

activity days, doctor visits, or use of medi-

cation. These two studies suggest that when

women’s and men’s social roles are more

similar, sex differences in health diminish.

What are some specific features of

women’s and men’s social roles that might be

linked to health? Men’s social roles include

risky behavior, such as working at hazard-

ous jobs and driving. Risk-taking behavior,

in general, is part of the male gender role.

The female social role includes attending to

one’s own health concerns. However, the fe-

male gender role is also associated with tak-

ing care of others, which could have negative

implications for health. In this next section,

I review some aspects of the female and male

social roles, including gender-related traits,

that have implications for health.

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