Sex roles and social support as moderators of life stress adjustment

In this study we used a longitudinal design to test the stress-buffering effects of sex role orientation in combination with perceived social support on measures of trait anxiety and depression. College undergraduates served as subjects. The cross-sectional analyses provided strong support for the hypothesis that masculinity would function as a life stress buffer. The hypothesis that social support would serve as a stress buffer when coupled with high masculinity was supported by one of the cross-sectional analyses as well as the longitudinal analysis. This pattern was found primarily for perceptions of tangible social support. The longitudinal analysis also revealed a significant interaction involving negative life events and masculinity and femininity. This interaction effect provided unexpected support for a balance model of androgyny, in that non-sex-typed subjects showed greater resilience to recent life stress than did sex-typed subjects. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the study of life stress adjustment.