Stress has become a near-universal part of modern life, yet it does not affect everyone equally. A growing body of research suggests that women, on average, report higher levels of stress than men. But is this difference biological, social, or a complex interaction of both? And what are the implications for mental health, wellbeing, and equity?
Gender Differences in Reported Stress: What the Data Show
Surveys consistently find that women report significantly higher perceived stress than men. For example, a large-scale study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that women rated their stress nearly 19% higher than men on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Another population health study from Sweden reported that 22.7% of women experienced high stress compared to only 11% of men.
These gender differences hold across many cultures and age groups, with women in their 30s and 40s often reporting the highest levels of chronic stress. Importantly, these findings are not limited to self-report bias—studies show corresponding increases in rates of anxiety, sleep difficulties, and burnout.
What Might Explain the Gender Gap in Stress?
1. Biological Sensitivity to Stress
Neuroscientific research has identified sex-based differences in how stress is processed in the brain. Women, for instance, show greater activation in limbic regions (such as the amygdala and hippocampus), which are involved in emotional regulation. In contrast, men tend to engage more activity in the prefrontal cortex during stress, which supports problem-solving and executive control.
Women also exhibit greater sensitivity to corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), a key hormone in the stress response system. This biological sensitivity may make women more physiologically reactive to stressors, even if the external trigger is similar.
2. Psychosocial and Structural Factors
While biology plays a role, the social determinants of stress are arguably more influential. Women often experience:
• The double burden: In dual-earner households, women still perform a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic labor and caregiving. This so-called “second shift” leads to role overload, emotional fatigue, and time poverty.
• Job strain: Women are more likely to work in lower-paid, lower-autonomy roles—particularly in caring professions like teaching, nursing, and social work—where emotional labour is high and rewards are often limited.
• Mental load: Beyond physical tasks, women tend to bear the cognitive responsibility for household management—scheduling, remembering, anticipating—which further compounds stress.
• Societal expectations: Gendered norms continue to shape how women feel they “should” behave—empathic, available, accommodating. These expectations can lead to chronic self-suppression, people-pleasing, and burnout.
3. Coping Styles and Social Conditioning
Women tend to use more emotion-focused coping strategies, such as rumination or seeking social support, while men may engage in more problem-focused or avoidant strategies. Although emotional expression is generally adaptive, chronic rumination can increase vulnerability to anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Moreover, women may feel more culturally permitted to report stress, while men may downplay emotional distress due to stigma around emotional expression—particularly in individualistic, performance-oriented societies.
Consequences for Mental Health and Wellbeing
The cumulative impact of these stressors is visible in mental health statistics: women are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders and major depression. They also report higher levels of fatigue, insomnia, and somatic symptoms.
Yet paradoxically, some studies find that women report equal or even higher life satisfaction compared to men. This has been termed the “female happiness paradox,” and likely reflects complex interactions between emotional attunement, social connectedness, and societal expectations.
Why This Matters - and What Can Be Done
Understanding gendered stress patterns is not simply an academic exercise, it has real-world implications for healthcare provision, workplace culture, and social policy. Addressing this imbalance requires systemic change.
At the policy level:
• Paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and flexible working arrangements help reduce structural stress.
• Mental health services must be gender-sensitive and accessible.
In the workplace:
• Promoting autonomy, fairness, and boundaries can buffer against job-related stress.
• Leaders should actively model and support emotional wellbeing for all genders.
At home:
• Equitable distribution of household responsibilities, including the mental load, can reduce the chronic strain many women carry.
Individually:
• Psychoeducation, therapy, and stress-regulation practices such as mindfulness or nervous system regulation can help mitigate the effects of chronic stress - but they should complement, not replace, structural change.
To conclude
While stress is a human experience, it is not a gender-neutral one. Women face a unique constellation of biological sensitivities and social stressors that contribute to higher reported stress levels. Recognising this pattern is the first step in creating more equitable systems - where wellbeing is not shaped by gendered expectations, but supported through empathy, evidence, and action.