Women Suffered More Emotional and Life Distress than Men during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Pathogen Disgust Sensitivity

Yi Ding, Jie Yang, Tingting Ji and Yongyu Guo
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Yi Ding: School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 201097, China
Jie Yang: School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 201097, China
Tingting Ji: School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 201097, China
Yongyu Guo: School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 201097, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-9

Abstract: The outbreak of the COVID-19 has brought upon unprecedented challenges to nearly all people around the globe. Yet, people may differ in their risks of social, economic, and health well-being. In this research, we take a gender-difference approach to examine whether and why women suffered greater emotional and life distress than men at the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Using a large nationwide Chinese sample, we found that compared to men, women reported higher levels of anxiety and fear, as well as greater life disturbance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Importantly, that women suffered more was partly explained by their higher level of pathogen disgust sensitivity. Our findings highlight the important consequences of gender differences in response to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest that policymakers pay more attention to gender inequalities regarding COVID-19 responses.

Keywords: gender; anxiety; life distress; pathogen disgust sensitivity; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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