The death of the loved ones is one of the most stressful events which can happen to a person's life. Previous literature had identified gender differences as one of the factors that influenced humans' coping mechanism post-loss. However, there is limited knowledge in gender differences post-loss in Asia especially. This paper is aimed to understand the gender differences in coping mechanisms after the death of their loved ones among Malaysians. A convenience sample (N = 90: n Males = 45; n Female = 45) of visitors at one of the Northern region hospital in Malaysia were surveyed. The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOC) was administered. The statistical program, SPSS (Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences) Student Version 17.0, was used to process the data collected from the participants. Using Mann-Whitney test and T-Independent test, it was found there is no significant difference between genders in choosing most of the coping mechanisms after the loss of their loved ones except for self-controlling coping mechanism. Findings from this study were contradicted to literature that found gender differences in coping mechanism after the death of loved ones. Hence, this study suggests that gender is not the main factor in determining how people cope with their losses. However, more studies in this area are vital to gain more understanding in gender-related coping mechanisms.
| Published in | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13 |
| Page(s) | 93-97 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Gender, Coping Mechanism, Death of Loved Ones
| [1] | Boelen, P. A., & Van Den Bout, J. (2002–2003). Gender differences in traumatic grief symptom severity after the loss of a spouse. Omega, 46, 183–198. |
| [2] | Corr, C. A., Nabe, C. M., & Corr, D. M. (2000). Death and dying, life and living (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. |
| [3] | Courtenay, W. H. (2000). Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men’s well-being: A theory of gender and health. Social Science & Medicine, 50, 1385–1401. doi: 10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00390-1. |
| [4] | Doka, K. J., & Martin, T. (2001). Take it like a man: Masculine response to loss. In D. A. Lund (Ed.), Men coping with grief (pp. 37–47). Amityville, NY: Baywood. |
| [5] | Ellis, RT., & Granger, M. (2002). African American adults' perceptions of the effects of parental loss during adolescence. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 19 (4), 271- 284. |
| [6] | Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, R. (1986). The dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 992-1003. |
| [7] | Folkman, S., Chesney, M., Collette, L., Boccellari, A., & Cooke, M. (1996). Postbereavement depressive mood and its prebereavement predictors in HIV+ and HIV–gay men. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 336–348. |
| [8] | Folkman, S. (1997a). Introduction to the special section: Use of bereavement narratives to predict wellbeing in gay men whose partner died of AIDS—Four theoretical perspectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 851–854. |
| [9] | Haine, RA, Ayers, T. S., Sandler, IN., & Wolchik, S. A (2008). Evidence-based practices for parentally bereaved children and their families. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39 (2), 113-121. |
| [10] | Halifax, J. (2008). Being with dying: Cultivating compassion and fearlessness in the presence of death. Boston: Shambhala. |
| [11] | Hall, M., & Irwin, M. (2001). Physiological indices of functioning in bereavement. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 473–492). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. |
| [12] | Hampel, P. & Petermann, F. (2005). Age and gender effects on coping in children and adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34 (2), 73-83. |
| [13] | Helgeson, V. S., & Lepore, S. J. (2004). Quality of life following prostate cancer: The role of agency and unmitigated agency. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 2559 –2585. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb01992. x. |
| [14] | Hoyt, M. A., & Stanton, A. L. (2011). Unmitigated agency, social support, and psychological adjustment in men with cancer. Journal of Personality, 79, 259 –276. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00675.x. |
| [15] | Hoar, S. D., Crocker, P. R. E., Holt, N. L. & Tamminen, K. (2010). Gender Differences in Adolescent Athletes' Coping with Interpersonal Stressors in Sport: More Similarities than Differences? Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 22 (2), 134-149. |
| [16] | Hooyman, N. R. & Kramer, B. J. (2006). Living through loss: Interventions across the life span. New York: Columbia University Press. |
| [17] | Kavanaugh, K., Trier, D., & Korzec, M. (2004). Social support following perinatal loss. Journal of Family Nursing, 10, 70-92. |
| [18] | Lips, H. M. (1997). Sex and Gender: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. |
| [19] | Martin, T. L., & Doka, K. J. (2000). Men don’t cry... women do: Transcending gender stereotypes of grief. Philadelphia: Brunner Mazel. |
| [20] | Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Larson, J. (1999). Coping with loss. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Nolen- Hoeksema, S., McBride, A., & Larson, J. (1997). Rumination and psychological distress among bereaved partners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 855–862. |
| [21] | Ptacek, J. T., Smith, R. E. & Dodge, K. L. (1994). Gender differences in coping with stress: when stressors and appraisal do not differ. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 20, 421–430. |
| [22] | Samuelsson, M., Rådestad, I., & Segesten, K. (2001). A waste of life: Fathers’ experience of losing a child before birth. Birth, 28, 124-130. |
| [23] | Stillion, J. M., & McDowell, E. E. (2001-2002). The early demise of the “stronger” sex: Genderrelated causes of sex differences in longevity. Omega, 44, 301-318. |
| [24] | Stinson, K., Lasker, J., Lohmann, J., & Toedter, L. (1992). Parental grief following pregnancy loss: A comparison of mothers and fathers. Family Relations, 41, 218–223. |
| [25] | Spector-Mersel, G. (2006). Never-ending stories: Western hegemonic masculinity scripts. Journal of Gender Studies, 15, 67–82. doi: 10.1080/ 09589230500486934. |
| [26] | Stroebe, M. S., & Schut, H. (2001). Models of coping with bereavement: A review. In M. S. Stroebe, R. O. Hansson, W. Stroebe, & H. Schut (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement research: Consequences, coping, and care (pp. 375–403). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. |
| [27] | Tamres, L. K., Janicki, D. & Helgeson, V. S. (2002). Sex differences in coping behavior: A metaanalytic review and an examination of relative coping. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6 (1), 2-30. |
| [28] | van den Hoonaard, D. K. (2009). I was the man: The challenges of masculinity in older men. In Z. D. Buchholz & S. K. Boyce (Eds.), Masculinity: Gender roles, characteristics and coping (pp. 69–84). New York, NY: Nova Science. |
| [29] | Vance, J., Boyle, F., Najman, J., & Thearle, J. (1995). Gender differences in parental psychological distress following perinatal death or sudden infant death syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 806-811. |
| [30] | Washburn-Ormachea, J. M., Hillman, S. B. & Sawilowsky, S. A. (2004). Gender and gender-role orientation differences on adolescents’ coping with peer stressors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33 (1), 31-40. |
| [31] | White, H., & Stillion, J. M. (1988). Sex differences in attitudes toward suicide: Do males stigmatize males? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 12, 357-366. |
| [32] | Wilson, G. S., Pritchard, M. E. & Revalee, B. (2005). Individual differences in adolescent health symptoms: the effects on gender and coping. Journal of Adolescence, 28, 369-379. |
| [33] | Wood, J., & Milo, E. (2001). Father’s grief when a disabled child dies. Death Studies, 25, 635-661. |
| [34] | Worden, lW. (1996). Children and grief' When a parent dies. New York: The Guilford Press. |
| [35] | Worth, N. (1997). Becoming a father to a stillborn child. Clinical Nursing Research, 6, 71-89. |
| [36] | Zhang, B., El-Jawahri, A., & Prigerson, H. G. (2006). Update on bereavement research: Evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of complicated bereavement. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 9, 1188-1203. |
APA Style
Atikah-Hussin, Azlinda Azman. (2016). Gender Coping Mechanism: A Study in Penang, West Malaysia. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 5(4), 93-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13
ACS Style
Atikah-Hussin; Azlinda Azman. Gender Coping Mechanism: A Study in Penang, West Malaysia. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2016, 5(4), 93-97. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13
AMA Style
Atikah-Hussin, Azlinda Azman. Gender Coping Mechanism: A Study in Penang, West Malaysia. Psychol Behav Sci. 2016;5(4):93-97. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13,
author = {Atikah-Hussin and Azlinda Azman},
title = {Gender Coping Mechanism: A Study in Penang, West Malaysia},
journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
volume = {5},
number = {4},
pages = {93-97},
doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20160504.13},
abstract = {The death of the loved ones is one of the most stressful events which can happen to a person's life. Previous literature had identified gender differences as one of the factors that influenced humans' coping mechanism post-loss. However, there is limited knowledge in gender differences post-loss in Asia especially. This paper is aimed to understand the gender differences in coping mechanisms after the death of their loved ones among Malaysians. A convenience sample (N = 90: n Males = 45; n Female = 45) of visitors at one of the Northern region hospital in Malaysia were surveyed. The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOC) was administered. The statistical program, SPSS (Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences) Student Version 17.0, was used to process the data collected from the participants. Using Mann-Whitney test and T-Independent test, it was found there is no significant difference between genders in choosing most of the coping mechanisms after the loss of their loved ones except for self-controlling coping mechanism. Findings from this study were contradicted to literature that found gender differences in coping mechanism after the death of loved ones. Hence, this study suggests that gender is not the main factor in determining how people cope with their losses. However, more studies in this area are vital to gain more understanding in gender-related coping mechanisms.},
year = {2016}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Gender Coping Mechanism: A Study in Penang, West Malaysia AU - Atikah-Hussin AU - Azlinda Azman Y1 - 2016/07/04 PY - 2016 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13 DO - 10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13 T2 - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences JF - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences JO - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences SP - 93 EP - 97 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-7845 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20160504.13 AB - The death of the loved ones is one of the most stressful events which can happen to a person's life. Previous literature had identified gender differences as one of the factors that influenced humans' coping mechanism post-loss. However, there is limited knowledge in gender differences post-loss in Asia especially. This paper is aimed to understand the gender differences in coping mechanisms after the death of their loved ones among Malaysians. A convenience sample (N = 90: n Males = 45; n Female = 45) of visitors at one of the Northern region hospital in Malaysia were surveyed. The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOC) was administered. The statistical program, SPSS (Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences) Student Version 17.0, was used to process the data collected from the participants. Using Mann-Whitney test and T-Independent test, it was found there is no significant difference between genders in choosing most of the coping mechanisms after the loss of their loved ones except for self-controlling coping mechanism. Findings from this study were contradicted to literature that found gender differences in coping mechanism after the death of loved ones. Hence, this study suggests that gender is not the main factor in determining how people cope with their losses. However, more studies in this area are vital to gain more understanding in gender-related coping mechanisms. VL - 5 IS - 4 ER -
Information
Email: