You probably already know that men and women deal and react to stress differently. What you may not have realized is just how different we are when it comes to dealing with stress. And one of the keys appears to be how defensive we are:
Defensiveness is a trait characterized by avoidance, denial or repression of information perceived as threatening.
In women, a strong defensive reaction to judgment from others or a threat to self-esteem will result in high blood pressure and heart rate.
But in older men, the researchers found those with low defensive reactions have higher cardiovascular rates.
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I think that this is an evolutionary adaptation that will fade with time. Traditionally speaking women have been able to “survive” by going along whereas men who do defend their “castle” so to speak would be pushed out of society. In modern society women need to learn to be more aggressive and defensive to a degree and men need to cut back a bit on the testosterone trip however it will take a few generations before our bodies are able to adapt to these changes.
Perhaps this has to do with normative masculinity. Men who defend themselves benefit from the perception that they have warded off the threat of the rival. Men that don’t feel walked on and demoted in status. good article. thanks.