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Procedia
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PSIWORLD 2011

How does the gender influence peoples health? Data of a

sample of Romanian people living in Spain
Andreea Catalina Brabete*, Mara del Pilar Snchez-Lpez
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Psicologa, Campus de Somosaguas 28223, Pozuelo de Alarcn, Madrid. Spain

Abstract
The aim of this study is to determine if adapting to gender norms is related to some health variables in a sample of
Romanian people living in Spain. The results showed that the degree of conformity with gender norms were
associated with some of the health indices studied. These conclusions have important implications for action on
health, since they show how important masculine/feminine gender identity is with regard to health behaviours.

PublishedbybyElsevier
Elsevier
B.V.
Selection
and/or peer-review
under responsibility
of PSIWORLD2011
2012
2011 Published
Ltd.
Selection
and peer-review
under responsibility
of PSIWORLD
2011
Keywords: Health Indices; Conformity to Masculine Inventory Norms; Conformity to Feminine Inventory Norms; Romanian people

1. Introduction
The pattern of health/illness, different in men and women, is not only due to their biological
differences, but the lifestyle and risk factors derived from the gender (Evans & Steptoe, 2002; SnchezLpez, 2003).
The gender is a variable that must be taken into consideration, in order to provide an accurate
diagnosis of the reality and not only when interpreting the results. In order to study how gender relates to
health, in this study we have chosen to use two questionnaires that measure the conformity with the
gender norms (Mahalik et al., 2003, 2005): Conformity to Masculinity Norms Inventory (CMNI) and
Conformity to Femininity Norms Inventory (CFNI). They work with the constructs of femininity and
masculinity not as homogeneous entities, but as multiples (there would be different femininities and
masculinities with which people would identify in different degrees).

Corresponding author. Tel.:+34 629325501; fax: +34 91 3943189 .

E-mail address: ac.brabete@psi.ucm.es.

1877-0428 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of PSIWORLD2011
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.101

Andreea Catalina BrabeteA.C.

andBrabete
Mara del
Pilar
Snchez-Lpez
Procedia
- Social
and Behavioral
et al.
/ Procedia
- Social/and
Behavioral
Sciences
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00000033 (2012) 148 152

Although the first step in introducing a gender perspective is to segregate the data by sex, findings
about sex differences bring attention to an important phenomenon, but they explain little about the
processes that may be responsible for the observed differences (Mechanic, 1978) and ignore important
within-group differences in men and women (Addis & Mahalik, 2003).
Surprisingly, those studies that considered the gender from the moment of assessment were realized
with men although it is known that the womens health is worse than mens health (Snchez-Lpez,
Aparicio-Garca & Dresch, 2006; Tubert, 2001; Verbrugge, 1982).
Results from a cross-national study assessing male college students in both Kenya and the United
States indicated that masculinity related to fewer health promoting behaviors and more health risk
behaviors for men from both countries (Mahalik, Lagan, &Morrison, 2006). This finding supported
previous research that traditional masculinity relates to higher rates of alcohol and substance abuse
(Blazina & Watkins, 1996), coronary prone behavior (Watkins et al., 1991), sexual promiscuity (Pleck,
Sonenstein & Ku., 1994), violence and aggression (Locke & Mahalik, 2005), and less willingness to see
mental health providers (Addis & Mahalik, 2003).
Vulnerability factors for health in women include the care for others because this implies a lack of
a personal project, confinement and isolation, repetitive, invisible, undervalued and unremunerated work
(Conde, 2000), lack of social and family support which leads to physical and emotional
overload, situations of emotional abuse by family members, lack of proper time and self-care (Burn,
1991), exposure to situations of subordination, economic and emotional dependence, which in
themselves are already vulnerabilities, but are also the basis for any abuse, maltreatment and violence
against women (Blanco Prieto, Garca de Vinuesa, Ruiz-Jarabo Quemada & Martn Garca, 2004). On the
other hand, the pursuit of personal and social success (Conde, 2000; Velasco, 2005), pursuing an ideal
body (Tubert, 2005), binge clothes and cosmetics and products related to appearance (Bernrdez, 2005),
and, sometimes, the urge to be mother (Tubert, 1999) are also associated with health and the gender.
The aim of this study is to determine whether adapting to gender norms is related to some health
variables in the population of Romanian people living in Spain. They are the largest but least studied
migrant population-probably because of language boundaries.
2. Method
2.1. Participants and procedure
The sample of this research consists of 118 Romanian people (70 women and 48 men). Womens
mean age is 33.18 and men`s mean age is 32.96. The instruments were translated from English/Spanish
into Romanian language following the recommendations of international regulations (Guidelines of the
International Test Commission) and national ones. Several organizations working with Romanian
migrants helped us with the data collection. The snowballing method was used as a sampling strategy.
The instruments were administered with a cover sheet indicating the instructions for the application. After
explaining the aim of the study all participants gave their informed consent for the participation.
2.2. Instruments
To assess physical health, the following variables/instruments were used: a) physical complaints: a 4point Likert-type scale of the frequency of 16 physical complaints that are fairly common in the general
population (e.g., headaches, backaches, nausea, etc.); b) self-perceived health: a 10-point Likert-type
scale on which individuals self-rated their health status; c) consumption/no consumption of medicines; d)
tobacco consumption and e) alcohol-taking.

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To assess participant womens conformity to feminine norms, the Conformity to Femininity Norms
Inventory (Mahalik et al., 2005) was administered. The inventory consists of 84 items answered on a 4point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The statements were designed to measure
various attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors associated with feminine gender roles, both traditional and
untraditional. They are grouped in eight feminine norms: nice in relationships, thinness, modesty,
domestic, care for children, romantic relationships, sexual fidelity, investment in appearance.
The Conformity to Masculinity Norms Inventory (Mahalik et al., 2003) contains 94 items answered
on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = completely disagree, 1 = disagreement, 2 = agreement, 3 = total agree). The
statements have been devised to measure attitudes, beliefs and behaviour reflecting conformity or nonconformity with eleven messages associated with masculine gender roles: winning, emotional control,
risk-taking, violence, power over women, dominant, playboy, self reliance, primacy of work, disdain for
homosexuals and pursuit of status.
3. Results and conclusions
Cronbachs alpha coefficient has been calculated for the estimation of the reliability of the instruments.
The alpha coefficient for the total scale was .63 for the CFNI and .75 for the CMNI.
Among the participants, their state of health is related to some of the specific gender norms (see Table
1 and Table 2).
Table 1. Pearson and point-biserial correlations between CFNI scores and health-related variables
CFNI scales

CFNI
total
-.25*
.13
-.07

Self-perceived health
.20*
-.32**
-.05
-.21*
-.13
-.10
-.20* -.26*
Physical ailments
-.18
.13
.24*
.10
-.02
.07
.13
.01
Consumption of medicines
-.27**
.04
-.08
-.01
.17
-.03
-.02
.05
Yes/No
Tobacco Consumption
-.16
.08
-.06
-.14
-.05
.12
.13
.33** .02
Yes/No
Alcohol-taking Yes/No
-.05
-.35**
-.18
-.48**
-.04
.04
-.09
.25*
-.30**
Note. 1 = Nice Relationships, 2 = Involvment with Children, 3 = Thinness, 4 = Sexual Fidelity, 5= Modesty, 6= Romantic
Relationship, 7 = Domestic, 8 = Investment in Appearance; * p < .05** p < .01

Table 2. Pearson and point-biserial correlations between CMNI scores and health-related variables
CMNI scales

10

Self-perceived health
-.03
-.01
-.04
-.37**
-.26* .21
-.28*
-.18
.01
.14
Physical ailments
.13
-.17
-.09
.37**
.03
.05
.04
-.08
-.03
-.01
Consumption of
.03
-.03
-.05
.04
-.02
-.25* .01
-.11
.17
-.01
medicines
Yes/No
Tobacco
.00
.30* .02
.16
.07
-.31* .21
.17
-.25* -.06
Consumption
Yes/No
Alcohol-taking
.24
.20
.10
.06
.06
-.16
.43** .22
-.00
-.30*
Yes/No
Note. 1= Winning, 2 = Emotional Control, 3= Risk Taking, 4 = Violence 5 = Power over women, 6 = Dominant, 7
Self-Reliance, 9 = Primacy of work, 10 = Disdain for homosexuality, 11 = Pursuit of Status; * p < .05** p < .01

11
.03
.03
.16

CMNI
total
-.18
.01
.01

.02

.15

.27*

.27*

= Playboy, 8=

Andreea Catalina Brabete

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Snchez-Lpez
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Brabete
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These findings show that gender socialization is significantly related to health behaviours. Given that
health behaviours contribute as much as 50% of the variance in mortality and morbidity statistics
(Mokdad, Marks, Stroup & Gerberding, 2004), these conclusions have important implications for action
on health. They give testimony of the multidetermination of health, and the multidimensional nature of
gender. There are risks or specific costs for each feminine/masculine gender norm. We also consider that
cultural variations in femininity and masculinity have to be taken into account in order to have an
accurate vision of the norms being useful predictors of health behaviours in different populations of
women and men.
This knowledge has potentially practical use for Romanian migrants: it stresses the need to introduce
the gender perspective into research about the migration phenomenon and health; it can be applied in
order to design psychosocial programs for immigrants and guide the development of policies to improve
the quality of life of this population.
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