Effects of Gender and Employment Status on Support Provided to Caregivers

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the impact of caregiver gender and employment status on laypeople's willingness to support the caregiver. A total of 216 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read 1 of 4 vignettes that described an individual caring for his or her physically ill spouse. Caregiver gender (man or woman) and employment status (full-time employment or retirement) were manipulated. Overall, female participants reported that they would provide higher levels of support than did male participants, particularly with regard to emotional support. Male participants were more likely than female participants to attend to caregiver employment status when rating their level of instrumental support provision. Gender of the caregiver did not exert an effect. Findings are interpreted in light of gender norms that allocate care of sick family members to women.

An Attributional Analysis of Gender and Cancer-Related Stigma

“…Although there was no main effect of participant gender on perceptions of disease controllability, women across the two samples expressed greater pity toward the target person relative to men. Results are partially consistent with those of vignette-based studies with undergraduates (Borchert and Rickabaugh 1995;Mosher and Danoff-Burg 2004;Schulte 2002) and underscore the need for replication studies with community samples. Future research may examine whether men's tendency to engage in justiceoriented reasoning results in heightened attributions of responsibility and, consequently, less pity and willingness to help relative to women (Gilligan 1982).…”

Effect of Financial Costs on Caregiving Burden of Family Caregivers of Older Adults

“…Male caregivers working part-time reported a higher level of caregiving burden. The type of family caregivers has most likely adjusted their employment situation due to the family caregiving need (Gignac, Kelloway, & Gottlieb, 1996;Mosher & Danoff-Burg, 2004). To further verify the role of employment status on caregiving burden, future research using a longitudinal method to track changes in employment status is recommended.…”