How many times have we heard the lament, “But he never talks about his feelings.” And in many ways this lament is the truth but most people don’t have a clue why. Enter Shelly Taylor, PhD of UCLA. Taylor did the first research specifically on women and stress and found that women respond significantly differently from men. While men are more prone to “fight or flight” Taylor found that women are not inclined to follow suit. Women, she found, are more likely to “Tend and Befriend.” That is, women are more likely to move towards other people and interact. In other words they are more likely to talk about it! All too often this leaves women wondering why men and boys don’t do the same thing. But alas! Men and boys have very different ways to process things. You can learn more about those things by reading Helping Mothers be Closer to Their Sons: Understanding The Unique World of Boys. Find out the ways men and boys use “Fight or Flight” to process their upset.
To know him is to love him!
