It is also important to be able to manage the stresses of a shifting landscape. Interestingly, when it comes to stress, new research shows that men and women do not respond in the same way. Most people are well aware of the adrenaline-triggered “fight or flight” response to extreme stress. But according to UCLA social psychologist Shelley Taylor, who wrote an influential article (and later a book) on how women respond to stress, women do not go into fight or flight mode, instead they respond with a “tend or befriend” reaction. This leads a woman to try and talk her way out of a stressful situation, or try to understand her opponent, thus potentially diffusing the threat. Taylor argues there are biological and evolutionary reasons for this difference, related to the care of offspring, and the seeking of social support. According to Dario Maestripieri PhD, in his article for Psychology Today, “Gender Differences in Responses to Stress: It Boils Down to a Single Gene” there may even be a genetic marker that mediates the response.
Linked also to this theory are recent studies on how men and women make decisions when under stress. According to a research article published in the journal PLoS One, the higher the stress, the more risk-taking men become, whereas under intense stress, women become more risk averse. It is important to note that neither response is necessarily superior to the other. Under certain circumstances, more risk taking can lead to greater rewards, but under other circumstances, it can lead to a potentially dangerous lack of caution. These studies show how important it is to have a balance of men and women in key decision-making positions.
We are also living in a time of enormous conflict and turmoil throughout the world. Many have begun to question the patriarchal values that have brought us to this point, and to wonder whether feminine values could offer us new and better options. As John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio say in the introduction to their book The Athena Doctrine (in reference to their previous book, Spend Thrift), “Most of the traits exhibited by the successful entrepreneurs, leaders, organizers and creators we profiled seem to come from aspects of human nature that are widely regarded as feminine.” This is what motivated the research that led to The Athena Doctrine which argues for the global need for the implementation of more female values.
There is an interesting, rather amusing story that illustrates these female values in action. When the U.S. government shut down for 16 days in 2014, while the men were saber-rattling and blaming their colleagues across the aisle, two women senators, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Kelly Ayotte, decided to host a little pizza party for women senators from both parties to try to figure out how to resolve the situation. It was through their leadership that a compromise was finally arrived at. Senator John McCain acknowledged, “It was the women’s leadership that brought critical mass of Republicans and Democrats together. Senator Mark Pryor stated, “Women in the Senate is a good thing. You see leadership. We’re just glad they allowed us to tag along to see how it’s done.” Although this was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement, there was clear admiration in it for how the women had succeeded in doing something the men couldn’t. The feminine value of cooperation saved the day. Masculine values, of course, have their place. But it makes for a lopsided world when only one set of values prevails, and so the more women who share in leadership positions in society, the more balanced a world we will have.