Perceived group discrimination based on one’s gender and the gender gap in depression in Europe

Abstract

Background:

Gender discrimination is one of the most significant psychosocial stressors. This study examined whether the relationship between perceived group discrimination against one’s gender (PGD) and the gender gap depression varied by societal levels of gender inequality.

Methods:

The current study used data from three waves (2006, 2012 and 2014) of the European Social Survey and applied multilevel linear regression methods. We assessed depressive feelings through the eight-item version of the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The sample contained 71,419 respondents living in 22 countries.

Results:

While only a small percentage of people were confronted with PGD, this group consistently reported more depressive feelings. PGD had a similar effect on the mental health of men and women, except for men in more gender-egalitarian societies. When confronted with PGD, the latter group reported more depressive feelings in comparison to men in more gender unequal societies.

Conclusions:

Our research found a strong association between PGD and depression. In addition, this relationship varied by societal levels of gender equality. More pronounced gender equality strengthened this relationship in men. Research that ignores this social context might, therefore, be limited in terms of generalization.

Keywords

Depression perceived group discrimination against one’s gender gender inequality Europe

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Kessler

Mickelson

Williams

. The prevalence, distribution, and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. J Health Soc Behav 1999:208–30.

Pascoe

Smart Richman

. Perceived discrimination and health: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull 2009;135:531–54.

Schmitt

Branscombe

Postmes

, et al. The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull 2014;140:921–48.

Gee

Walsemann

. Does health predict the reporting of racial discrimination or do reports of discrimination predict health? Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth. Soc Sci Med 2009;68:1676–84.

Van de Velde

Bracke

Levecque

. Gender differences in depression in 23 European countries. Cross-national variation in the gender gap in depression. Soc Sci Med 2010;71:305–13.

Van de Velde

Bracke

Levecque

, et al. Gender differences in depression in 25 European countries after eliminating measurement bias in the CES-D 8. Soc Sci Res 2010;39:396–404.

Bourguignon

Seron

Yzerbyt

, et al. Perceived group and personal discrimination: differential effects on personal self-esteem. Eur J Soc Psychol 2006;36:773–89.

Stevens

Thijs

. Perceived group discrimination and psychological well-being in ethnic minority adolescents. J Appl Soc Psychol 2018;48:559–70.

Manzi

. Are the processes underlying discrimination the same for women and men? A critical review of congruity models of gender discrimination. Front Psychol 2019;10:469.

10.

Kübler

Schmid

Stüber

. Gender discrimination in hiring across occupations: a nationally-representative vignette study. Labour Econ 2018;55:215–29.

11.

Arpino

Esping-Andersen

Pessin

. How do changes in gender role attitudes towards female employment influence fertility? A macro-level analysis. Eur Soc Rev 2015;31:370–82.

12.

Fraser

. After the family wage: gender equity and the welfare state. Polit Theor 1994;22:591–618.

13.

Schmitt

Branscombe

Kobrynowicz

, et al. Perceiving discrimination against one’s gender group has different implications for well-being in women and men. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 2002;28:197–210.

14.

Harding

. The construction of men who are nurses as gay. J Adv Nurs 2007;60:636–44.

15.

Pew Research Center. Gender discrimination comes in many forms for today’s working women, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/12/14/gender-discrimination-comes-in-many-forms-for-todays-working-women/ (2017, accessed 29 June 2020).

16.

Coston

Kimmel

. White men as the new victims: reverse discrimination cases and the Men’s Rights Movement. Nev LJ. 2012;13:368.

17.

Swim

Hyers

Cohen

, et al. Everyday sexism: evidence for its incidence, nature, and psychological impact from three daily diary studies. J Soc Issues 2001;57:31–53.

18.

Crocker

Major

. Social stigma and self-esteem: the self-protective properties of stigma. Psychol Rev 1989;96:608–30.

19.

Crocker

Quinn

. Social stigma and the self: meanings, situations, and self-esteem. In: Heatherton

Kleck

Hebl

, et al. (eds) The social psychology of stigma. New York, NY: Guilford Press, 2000, pp. 153–83.

20.

Kobrynowicz

Branscombe

. Who considers themselves victims of discrimination?: Individual difference predictors of perceived gender discrimination in women and men. Psychol Women Q 1997;21:347–63.

21.

Leaper

Brown

. Perceived experiences with sexism among adolescent girls. Child Dev 2008;79:685–704.

22.

Van de Velde

Huijts

Bambra

, et al. Macro-level gender equality and depression in men and women in Europe. Sociol Health Illn 2013;35:682–98.

23.

Radloff

. The CES-D Scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas 1977;1:385–401.

24.

Alvarez-Galvez

Salvador-Carulla

. Perceived discrimination and self-rated health in Europe: evidence from the European Social Survey (2010). PLoS One 2013;8:e74252.

25.

Bates

Mächler

Bolker

, et al. Package ‘lme4’. J Stat Softw 2014;67:12.

26.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. What are equivalence scales?, http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD-Note-EquivalenceScales.pdf (2005, accessed 29 June 2020).

27.

Kehn

Ruthig

. Perceptions of gender discrimination across six decades: the moderating roles of gender and age. Sex Roles 2013;69:289–96.

28.

Clark

Knabe

Rätzel

. Boon or bane? Others’ unemployment, well-being and job insecurity. Labour Econ 2010;17:52–61.

29.

Van de Velde

Van der Bracht

Buffel

. The relation between religion and depression in Europe: the moderating role of the religious context. Int J Comp Sociol 2017;58:515–32.

30.

Barkan

. Measuring perceived mistreatment: potential problems in asking about ‘discrimination’. Sociol Inq 2018;88:245–53.

31.

Eurobarometer. Special Eurobarometer 437: discrimination in the EU in 2015, https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/S2077_83_4_437_ENG (2015, accessed 29 June 2020).