My friend Hailey shared an article with me about a UCLA study on how women respond to stress. Apparently, stress tests have traditionally been performed on men, who typically respond to stress with a fight-or-flight mechanism.
But at UCLA, researchers performed stress tests on women and found women respond differently. Instead of fight-or-flight, women respond to stress by “tending or befriending” — they comfort or parent the people around them, or talk with a best friend or trusted family member.
I thought it was so interesting and it confirmed how important friendships really are to women. As if I needed more reason to be on the phone all day. Hahaha!
I love this. And this is why I love your blog.
I get this. That is why I have not yet left my family and moved to Mexico. I don’t konw how I could have done this whole parent thing w/out my friends. I feel blessed to count among 10-20 women as my “face friends”. They are articulate, intelligent, funny, kind, talented, etc. You name it. They are special people and I am lucky to know them. The fact that they happen to be mom’s in the same phase of life as I am right now (well, most of them anyway) is a bonus.
Glad to see it backed up by science. :-)
What a lovely thing to start the new year with. As a girl who comes from a family of all girls, I am so fascinated by women and their relationships. Very interesting!