Study Shows Same-Gender Couples Deal Better With Stress

According to a recent study from the researchers at University of Texas Austin and published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, there are some important differences in how same-gender and opposite-gender couples deal with stress.

By surveying 419 couples on dyadic coping (coping as a couple), researchers revealed that same-gender spouses were able to be more positive and collaborative in handling stress compared to their counterparts.

They believe the differences stem from links between gender and coping strategies. For example, women married to men say that their spouses are more ambivalent and hostile in responding to stress compared to women married to women.

The study’s author, Yiwen Wang, says, “This research shows that while there are some gender differences in dyadic coping efforts, the effects of supportive and collaborative dyadic coping as well as of negative dyadic coping on marital quality are the same for all couples. Our findings also emphasize the importance of coping as a couple for marital quality across different relationship contexts, which can be an avenue through which couples work together to strengthen relationship wellbeing.”

Wang also believes that because the stress was handled better by both male and female same-gender couples, the key to their dyadic coping is their ability to work together to deal with stress, using their similarities in stress responses and their shared, gender-related experiences.

Debra Umberson, Wang’s co-author, says that coping with stress collaboratively may even be more important for same-gender couples, who are less likely to have familial and institutional support compared to straight couples.

“Including same-sex spouses and looking at how they work with each other to manage stress as compared to different-sex spouses can help us better understand the ways in which gender dynamics unfold in marriages,” she explains. “Same-sex couples face unique stressors related to discrimination and stigma. Coping as a couple may be especially important for them as they do not receive as much support from extended family, friends or institutions as different-sex couples do.”