Gender differences in coping reactions under community crisis and daily routine conditions

This study compared the coping patterns of Israeli men and women under a grave collective disaster situation — the recent (1991) Persian Gulf War missile crisis, and under daily routine conditions. The samples consisted of 228 men and 372 women who reported on their coping with the Gulf crisis, and 386 men and 436 women who reported on their coping with everyday Stressors 3 months after the crisis. Data on state of anxiety and bodily symptoms were also collected for both samples. During the crisis period women were found to use a greater variety of coping strategies than men. Furthermore, women, compared to men, reported using relatively more active, problem-focused coping during the war period, whereas men, compared to women, reported on more emotion-focused coping in the crisis period. This pattern of gender differences was reversed for coping with daily Stressors after the war. The gender-related differences in coping patterns observed during and after the crisis were related to the alternative predictions derived from the ‘role constraint’ versus the ‘socialization’ hypotheses, and interpreted in terms of the differential demands of the crisis situation for men and women.