Gender Anxiety Essay
Gender
Running Head: GENDER AND PARENTAL
Gender and Parental Marital Status as Predictors of Anxiety among
Undergraduate Students
1
Gender
2
Abstract
In order to investigate anxiety levels of undergraduate students at Saint Mary’s College of California, a questionnaire was constructed based on previous pilot-study data.
Possible predictors of anxiety included gender and parents’ marital status. Women with divorced parents were hypothesized to have higher anxiety levels when compared to women with married parents, men with married parents, and men with divorced parents.
Other possible predictors including age, GPA, number of roommates, relationship status, amount due in student loans, and ethnicity were examined. Gender …show more content…
109). Therefore, the causes and effects of anxiety have remained topics of interest within personality studies. Barlow (2000) defined anxiety as a
“helpless state resulting from feelings of being unable to predict, control or obtain desired outcomes” (p. 1249). It is important to note that anxiety has its benefits. For example, increased anxiety has been shown to help individuals get through fearful or negative events, which serves a useful purpose (Barlow, 2000). The problem arises when anxiety persists for a long period of time after the stressful event has passed. Anxiety disorders are classified as “six months (or more) of persistent worry and prolonged physiological responses due to excessive anxiety in which the person can’t refrain from worry” (The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- IV, 2000).
Barlow (2000) proposed that anxiety arises from anticipating something negative or uncomfortable based on previous experience. Moderate anxiety levels …show more content…
Increased anxiety levels have been shown to increase “muscle tension, pulse rate, breathing, blood pressure, and perspiration” (Barlow, 2000, p. 1251), which can cause debilitation instead of control. Another explanation for the cause of anxiety disregards the situation that elevates this emotion. Freud (1926) proposed that “anxiety relates to the state and disregards the object or situation” (p. 491). He believed that anxiety protects us in situations that we think are threatening even if there is nothing to fear. Freud (1926) emphasized the ongoing nature of anxiety, in which people mentally prepare for the
“repetition of some particular significant experience” (p. 492). The repetitious nature of anxiety can cause people to develop physical responses associated with this emotion during situations that are similar to ones they have feared in the past. Experiencing these responses (increased heart rate, perspiration, etc.) on a regular basis can be overwhelming and difficult to control. Maki, Pollack & Otto (2000) suggested that anxiety
Running Head: GENDER AND PARENTAL
Gender and Parental Marital Status as Predictors of Anxiety among
Undergraduate Students
1
Gender
2
Abstract
In order to investigate anxiety levels of undergraduate students at Saint Mary’s College of California, a questionnaire was constructed based on previous pilot-study data.
Possible predictors of anxiety included gender and parents’ marital status. Women with divorced parents were hypothesized to have higher anxiety levels when compared to women with married parents, men with married parents, and men with divorced parents.
Other possible predictors including age, GPA, number of roommates, relationship status, amount due in student loans, and ethnicity were examined. Gender …show more content…
109). Therefore, the causes and effects of anxiety have remained topics of interest within personality studies. Barlow (2000) defined anxiety as a
“helpless state resulting from feelings of being unable to predict, control or obtain desired outcomes” (p. 1249). It is important to note that anxiety has its benefits. For example, increased anxiety has been shown to help individuals get through fearful or negative events, which serves a useful purpose (Barlow, 2000). The problem arises when anxiety persists for a long period of time after the stressful event has passed. Anxiety disorders are classified as “six months (or more) of persistent worry and prolonged physiological responses due to excessive anxiety in which the person can’t refrain from worry” (The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- IV, 2000).
Barlow (2000) proposed that anxiety arises from anticipating something negative or uncomfortable based on previous experience. Moderate anxiety levels …show more content…
Increased anxiety levels have been shown to increase “muscle tension, pulse rate, breathing, blood pressure, and perspiration” (Barlow, 2000, p. 1251), which can cause debilitation instead of control. Another explanation for the cause of anxiety disregards the situation that elevates this emotion. Freud (1926) proposed that “anxiety relates to the state and disregards the object or situation” (p. 491). He believed that anxiety protects us in situations that we think are threatening even if there is nothing to fear. Freud (1926) emphasized the ongoing nature of anxiety, in which people mentally prepare for the
“repetition of some particular significant experience” (p. 492). The repetitious nature of anxiety can cause people to develop physical responses associated with this emotion during situations that are similar to ones they have feared in the past. Experiencing these responses (increased heart rate, perspiration, etc.) on a regular basis can be overwhelming and difficult to control. Maki, Pollack & Otto (2000) suggested that anxiety