Description
Positive social relationships are associated with better outcomes across many mental and physical health conditions. Gender roles can influence social relationships by shaping behavioral expectations, and may also impact health (e.g., increased risk for alcohol abuse, HIV). Machismo and marianismo are traditional Hispanic/Latino gender roles for men and women, respectively, that could influence social relationships. Given the importance of relationships within Hispanic/Latino culture, examining the association between gender role beliefs and social relationships may be particularly relevant to understanding Hispanic/Latino health. We examined the associations of two components of machismo (traditional machismo and caballerismo) and five components of marianismo (family pillar, spiritual pillar, virtuosity/chastity, subordination to others, and self-silencing) with social relationship variables (perceived social support, family cohesion, and family conflict) associated with physical health in previous research. Participants (N= 5,313) completed questionnaires assessing traditional gender role beliefs and social relationship variables as part of the HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study, a population based cross-sectional study of Hispanic/Latino adults in four US cities. Analyses were age standardized to the 2010 US population and weighted to account for design and sampling effects. Mean cohort age was 42.1 years (SE= 0.40), 51.5% had lived in the US for >10 years, 49.5% were married, and 69.9% earned <$30K per year. In females, higher subordination (i.e., deference), was related to higher perceived social support (β = .176, p =.007, 95% CI [.068, .284]), while higher virtuosity/chastity related to lower family conflict (β = -.082, p =.003, 95% CI [-.127, -.037]). Contrary to our hypotheses, results indicate that gender role beliefs are not consistently associated with social relationships. However, some gender role components may have a greater influence on different aspects of relationships, and possibly health.
