Gender and academic stress: A model for moderating effects in cultural context

Introduction: This study examined the moderating effect of cultural contexts in the relationship between gender and academic stress among male and female Iranian and Swedish university students. Method: The Academic Stress Questionnaire (ASQ) was administered to 212 students (112 Iranian (32 male and 78 female) and 100 Swedish (29 male and 71 female)). Linear Regression analysis was used for data analysis. Results: The results of regression analysis indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between gender and academic stress among Iranian and Swedish students. Results also indicated that the relationship between gender and academic stress was not moderated by cultural context. However, gender was found to be a strong predictor for academic stress for Iranian students in comparison with Swedish ones. Conclusion: Although these findings showed that the relationship between gender and academic stress was not moderated by cultural context, obvious differences in predictive values of standardized regression of academic stress by gender among Iranian and Swedish students support theoretical assumptions underlying transactional theory of stress and expectation theory of sexual role.