Men more vulnerable to romantic upheavels

WASHINGTON - Contrary to popular belief, the ups and downs of romantic relationships affect young men more adversely than women, says a new study.

In the study of more than 1,000 unmarried young adults aged between 18 and 23 years, Robin Simon, Wake Forest University professor of sociology, challenges the assumption that women are more vulnerable to the emotional variables in a relationship.

Even though men sometimes try to present a tough face, unhappy romances take a greater emotional toll on men than women, Simon says. They just express their distress differently than women.

“We found young men are more reactive to the quality of ongoing relationships,” Simon says.

That means the harmful stress of a rocky relationship is more closely associated with men’s than women’s mental health. The researchers also found that men get greater emotional benefits from the positive aspects of an ongoing romantic relationship.

This contradicts the stereotypic image of stoic men who are unaffected by what happens in their romantic relationships.

Simon suggests a possible explanation for the findings: For young men, their romantic partners are often their primary source of intimacy - in contrast to young women who are more likely to have close relationships with family and friends.

Strain in a current romantic relationship may also be associated with poor emotional well-being because it threatens young men’s identity and feelings of self-worth, she says.

She also explains how men and women express emotional distress in different ways.

“Women express emotional distress with depression while men express emotional distress with substance problems,” Simon says according to a Wake Forest release.

Simon’s research is published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour. Anne Barrett, associate professor of sociology at Florida State University, co-authored the article.