The interplay of sex and gender on the reactivity of the endocrine stress axis in humans

The observation that men and women differ in their stress responsivity is important in this context, as men and women also systematically differ in their risk for developing disease. Women are more likely to suffer from autoimmune disorders, anxiety disorders, dementia, to name just a few. Investigating the reasons for the stress responsivity differences between men and women has thus been an important area of research for several decades, and we are now at a point where we better understand some of the underlying mechanisms. There are both biological and cultural effects at play that contribute to establishing these reactivity differences between men and women, with recent findings providing limited support for the idea that cultural effects might have the greater impact. The current selective review summarizes some of the key findings from the last 25 years to provide an overview of this interesting topic.