Which gender deals with political stress better?

‘A Political View’ By Sherry Holliman

Elected officials, male or female, make all sorts of decisions under stress, but are the decisions fair and realistic for the population of people it will affect?

Stress can be both good and bad — it is the leader’s reaction to stress that matters, and if the leader’s intentions are good, society will respond positively.

The success of a decision maker under stress depends on his or her knowledge about the situation and the risk level.

It seems to be believed that women are generally busier and more stressed than men. It’s also believed that they have more roles than men. Many women themselves feel that they carry many responsibilities outside of paid work, even when they are working just as many hours as men.

It is obvious that men and women will make decisions differently in times of stress. Who makes the better decision when the heat is put on them? How do men or women leaders handle issues that are challenging such as race, sexuality, and religion? It doesn’t matter what kind of, or how much, stress you’re under. If you’re feeling stressed, you’re going to slip up when it comes to making good choices if you are not well prepared for the issue causing the stress.

The quality of life you live and your ability to do the meaningful things you set out to accomplish will depend in one way or another on the decisions your elected officials make. In many cases, women are most likely to handle stress better as a key decision maker because they respond to small stress issues quickly, rather than letting them escalate into a bigger issue later. Women are more focused on finding a common ground, collaborating, and being empathic.

Society will benefit from more women in positions of power because they are more likely to investigate to get facts and weigh all options from both sides. Men are often more stressed in decision making processes, because they form their opinions from their own experiences and gather little to no data.

Men are more willing to take backlash from the public of making the wrong decision. Most decision makers are men and they do not fully collect information that is needed to offer a fair solution for challenging issues. Men are controlled by the stress of the situation, personal knowledge or attitudes, of the audience that is demanding the pressure for change.

Constituents can’t make the jobs in government less stressful, they are expecting elected officials to be ready for challenges.

Elected officials regardless of gender should always be prepared to address stressful issues by collecting data to be prepared to handle issues to prevent the situation from being stressful.

However, it is more likely when pressure is presented to a woman there is a better chance that there will be a better balance between the risks and progress. Leaders make all sorts of decisions under stress on a daily basis, but fair decisions can only be made based on the information available, and many times decisions are made with incomplete information.

Sherry Holliman is a concerned citizen of Crittenden County and has some views on a variety of topics that she wants to share with her neighbors. She serves on the Marion City Council.