The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

398 Chapter 11

An alternative hypothesis is that mar-

riage indirectly affects health by providing

resources to cope with stress. These effects

are referred to asbuffering effects; marriage

is buffering one against the negative effects

of stressors (Cohen & Wills, 1985). During

times of stress, marriage may help us perceive

a stressful event as less troublesome and may

provide resources to cope with stress (e.g.,

emotional support, financial support). In the

face of an illness, marriage may help us make

the health behavior changes necessary for a

successful recovery.

The distinction between the main effects

and buffering effects hypotheses is shown in

Figure 11.3. In Figure 11.3a, the main effects

hypothesis shows that married people are

less distressed than unmarried people, regard-

less of the level of stress. The magnitude of the

difference between the two lines is the same

across low- and high-stress groups. Of course,

stress leads to an increase in distress among

both married and unmarried people. In

Figure 11.3b, the stress-buffering hypothesis

people were happier than all other groups

but partnered gays and lesbians were simi-

lar in happiness to heterosexual cohabitors

and happier than the rest of the groups. The

effects were similar for women and men.

Explanations

Many theories address why marriage benefits

health. Marriage is presumed to affect health

through a set of physiological processes. Two

categories of variables might affect physiology:

psychological and behavioral. Marriage may

provide one with a sense of identity, a source

of self-esteem, and a companion to share ac-

tivities, all of which should promote a positive

psychological state. Marriage may also pro-

mote good health behavior (e.g., exercising),

decrease risk behavior (e.g., smoking), and

promote early detection of disease (e.g., rou-

tine physical exam). These effects of marriage

on health are referred to as direct effects, or

main effects(Cohen & Wills, 1985). In each

case, marriage is directly linked to a psycho-

logical state or behavior that influences health.

Male

Happiness

1.8

1.9

2

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

1.7

Hetero: Married

Hetero: CohabitingSame Sex: Partnered

Hetero: SingleHetero: OtherSame Sex: Single

Female

Happiness

1.8

1.9

2

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

1.7

Hetero: Married

Hetero: CohabitingSame Sex: Partnered

Hetero: SingleHetero: OtherSame Sex: Single

FIGURE 11.2 Married men and women are happier than unmarried groups. Among the unmarried

groups, partnered gays and lesbians are similar in happiness to cohabiting heterosexuals, both of which

are happier than the remaining groups.

Source: Adapted from Wienke and Hill (2009).

M11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 398 6/21/11 12:43 PM