A Major Study Reveals Women Stress Way More Than Men During The Holidays Thanks To 3 Big Factors
Holiday magic hits differently for women.
Ikostudio | Canva There's no other time like the holidays to examine your life and how lucky you are to be surrounded by friends and family. But depending on whether you're a man or a woman, you may be more into the holiday season. Do you know why men love Christmas more than women? Well, you might as well take a look at your relationship with your significant other and see just what makes you click.
We're not suggesting you sit down and have a deep, intense one-on-one under the mistletoe, but make a game out of it instead. Because when it comes to the Christmas spirit, not everyone is always on board, and it can have an impact on your relationship.
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research conducted a 2006 study about men and women during the holidays and their stress levels. In the name of holidays and all things merry, we have put together statistics comparing how men and women view certain aspects of the holidays differently. It turns out that men are quite laid-back, whereas women are far more concerned with hosting, cleaning, and overall expectations of the holidays.
Just ask your partner and yourself a question, then compare the results to see exactly where the two of you fall on different subjects, concerns, and topics, as important as religion, and as light-hearted as how much you love Christmas. Here are a few more things the study found about men and women during the holiday season.
A major study reveals women stress way more than men during the holidays, thanks to 4 big factors:
1. Men are worried about less
People are worried about the holidays, with a thirty-eight percent increase in stress when it comes to planning the holidays. However, most people, fifty-four percent, say they feel no difference in the amount of stress they experience.
Unfortunately, it's women who carry the burden of worry during the holiday season, with forty-four percent of women reporting an increase in stress during the holidays versus only thirty-one percent of men. Women experience more holiday stress than men because they handle most of the shopping and celebration planning while feeling intense time pressure to get everything done, research shows.
Women say they have a harder time relaxing during the holidays because they are more likely to take on all of the tasks associated with family celebrations. Yes, women have found stress in "cleaning." Men, you really don't stress out about the holidays, do you?
2. Women and men have different holiday stressors
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Both men and women feel an obligation to their families during the holidays. Half of men, forty-nine percent, and fifty-one percent of women strongly agree that they must make sure everyone in their family is happy during these times. However, when it comes to family obligations, both genders are different.
Women report that they are much more likely to shoulder the work burden. During Thanksgiving, women are twice as likely to cook, sixty-six percent of women vs only thirty-five percent of men, shop for food, fifty-two percent of women vs thirty-two percent of men, and clean dirty dishes, with seventy percent of women doing them compared to only forty-one percent of men.
Women shoulder the invisible labor of holiday preparation while men are more likely to engage in leisure activities. Research shows this creates a lopsided dynamic that turns what should be a celebration into an exhausting workload for one gender.
What are men stressed about? Watching football, with forty-six percent of men choosing to watch it on the holidays vs only twenty-six percent of women.
3. Men are less stressed than women
Men are far more likely to relax during the holidays than women are. Forty-one percent of men feel like they can relax during the holidays, while only twenty-seven percent of women feel that way.
This labor imbalance means that only 27 percent of women who participated in the APA's study said they can relax over the holidays, compared to 41 percent of men, and at least half of all women in the U.S. report higher levels of stress during this time of year.
But despite all the stressors of the holidays, many people report that they look forward to the holiday season. During the holidays, people report many positive emotions, such as happiness (with seventy-eight percent feeling it often), love (with seventy-five percent reporting they feel it often during the holidays), and sixty percent reporting being in high spirits.
Research on over 20,000 people shows individuals are happier than usual during holidays, with time spent with friends and family strongly predicting this happiness. This surge of positive emotion explains why people love the holiday season despite its stress and eagerly look forward to it each year.
Look at that, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day! It is important to notice how a lot of the hosting and entertaining weight is put on the woman's plate. Maybe we can fix that next year?
The statistics continue, and although not every possible holiday-related issue is covered, it's interesting to see these findings and apply them to your relationship. Knowledge is power, and, in the end, it will only make you closer.
Amanda Chatel has been a wellness and relationship journalist for over a decade. Her work has been featured in Glamour, Shape, Self, and other outlets.
