Gender stratification and mental health: An exploration of dimensions of the self

Recent evidence, showing that gender differences in depression and antisoci al behavior originate in early adolescence, points to the importance of soc ialization and dimensions of the self in understanding the higher rates of internalizing disorders among females and higher rates of externalizing dis orders among males. We review theories and research that link gender strati fication to dimensions of the self and through this, to gender differences in disorders. These theories and evidence further suggest that girls and bo ys differ in the boundaries drawn between the self and others. Ranging from high degrees of connectedness to high degrees of separation, such boundari es are conceptualized as people's basic operating assumptions about social relationships An analysis of empathy provides a preliminary test of the con tribution of boundary assumptions to explaining gender differences in inter nalizing and externalizing disorders.