Exploring the relationship between gender roles and psychological wellbeing : does coping have a role?

Objectives. Psychological androgyny, as defined by endorsing instrumental and expressive characteristics, has been associated with psychological wellbeing. There is also a growing evidence based for the benefits of coping flexibility for wellbeing. Given that the ability to respond to situations flexibly theoretically applies to both androgyny and coping flexibility, research linking these concepts is warranted. Research in China has found that androgyny is related to increased coping flexibility. The aim of this study was to explore these concepts within the British Isles, specifically investigating whether coping flexibility mediates the relationship between androgyny and distress. Design. A cross-sectional, quantitative design was used. Methods. Measures of androgyny, coping flexibility and psychological distress were completed by 318 adults currently living in the British Isles, via an online survey. Relationships between the variables were examined using Pearson correlation coefficients. Mediation analyses were completed using Bootstrapping analysis to assess whether coping flexibility mediated the relationship between androgyny and psychological distress. Results. Increased levels of androgyny and coping flexibility were both associated with reduced psychological distress. Higher androgyny scores were associated with more coping flexibility (β = 0.340, p = 0.000). Stronger endorsement of androgyny was related to reduced psychological distress, through coping flexibility (ab = -0.4228 CI [-.7132, -.2159]). Conclusion. The findings go some way to explaining the relationship between androgyny and wellbeing, and indicate coping flexibility is an important aspect of coping. However, due to the disproportionate number of female students in the sample, generalisability of the findings is limited. Further analysis exploring different age groups and other conceptualisations of androgyny are warranted