The multiple dimensions of agency and communion and their associations to well-being /

Effective gender research requires a revision of the meaning of the current notions of agency (masculinity) and communion (femininity), as well as a close examination of the impact of these constructs on well-being outcomes. Based on V. S. Helgeson's (1994) model of sex, agency, communion, and well-being, two studies were conducted to (1) examine the concepts of agency and communion in a multidimensional manner; (2) assess and review the association between agency and mental health through the inclusion of peer reports and a relevant meta-analysis; (3) explore the association between agency and social adjustment, including two pertinent meta-analyses; and (4) empirically assess conceptual parallels among the constructs of agency and communion with the following personality-related constructs: Masculine and feminine traits, agentic and communal behaviors, power and intimacy motivation, and self-critical and dependent depressive styles, as well as their association with well-being outcomes. Findings reveal a positive association between agency and social adjustment, suggest a possible tendency to inflate levels of psychological adjustment in agentic individuals, and highlight the need to revise the concepts of agency and communion as encompassing multiple as opposed to uniform dimensions. Each dimension can lead to diverse well-being outcomes. Lastly, these studies call into question the need to postulate unmitigated forms of agency and communion. Taken as a whole, this work provides evidence for the complexity of the relations between gender and well-being