442 Chapter 12women may suffer poorer mental health
compared to men. Thedifferential vul-
nerability hypothesisstates that roles have
different effects on health for women
and men. For example, if parenthood is
more central to women’s than men’s self-
concepts, difficulties with children may
be more strongly related to women’s
than men’s health.
Paid Worker Role
The traditional belief that it is better for men
to earn the money in the family and women
to take care of the home and children has
changed over time. As shown in Figure 12.1,
whereas 52% of women and 74% of men en-
dorsed this belief in 1977, the numbers de-
creased to 39% of women and 42% of men
by 2008 (Galinsky, Aumann, & Bond, 2009).
The numbers not only changed but the sex
difference greatly decreased. On the other
hand, it is remarkable that over a third ofbe used to offset stressors arising from any
one role.
The focus of this chapter is on the
role of paid worker. Because this role does
not typically exist by itself, I also examine
how women and men combine the role of
paid worker with family roles. First, I dis-
cuss how the paid worker role influences
health. Then I examine how the paid
worker role affects family roles, how fam-
ily roles affect the paid worker role, and
whether people are better off if they have
fewer or more roles. I also discuss how
the quality of the paid worker role affects
health. One important aspect of this role
that is relevant to gender is discrimina-
tion, including the pay disparity between
men and women. I discuss a variety of fac-
tors that contribute to the pay disparity.
Another gender-related aspect of the paid
worker role is sexual harassment. I define
sexual harassment, discuss its incidence
and effects on the worker, and describe
theories of sexual harassment.
One important reason for studying
the effects of different roles on women’s
and men’s health is that sex differences
in the possession of roles may explain
some of the sex differences in health dis-
cussed in Chapter 10. Are women more
depressed than men because they hold
fewer roles, hold different roles, or value
different roles? Thedifferential exposure
hypothesisstates that differences in the
kinds of roles women and men possess
explain sex differences in health. For ex-
ample, to the extent that men are more
likely than women to possess the paid
worker role, and the paid worker role
is associated with good mental health,
1977 200830405060Agreement with: “It’s Better for Men toEarn Money and Women to Stay Home”70803545556575Men
WomenFIGURE 12.1 The traditional belief that men
should earn the money and women should take care
of the home and children has decreased over time.
Source: Adapted from Galinsky et al. (2009).M12_HELG0185_04_SE_C12.indd 442 6/21/11 9:16 AM