Study Finds That Gender Equality Is Good for Men’s Health

Gender equality in society tends of have a beneficial side effect for men: They live longer. A study by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia found that men tended to live longer lives in societies where men and women shared responsibilities more equally.

The results showed that men living in the 25 percent of societies that were the most patriarchal had mortality rates that were 31 percent higher than men in more equal societies when compared to women in these societies.

Daniel Kruger, a researcher at the University of Michigan and the leader of the study stated, “Males in societies where they are more socially dominant tend to engage in riskier behaviors that can lead to death.” He notes that in these societies, men compete for social dominance with other men and in doing so they engage in risky and dangerous behavior.

“Gender inequality is inherently related to inequality in general,” Kruger says, “and this is bad for both men and women’s health, through especially harmful to men in increasing the risk of death.”

The article, “Patriarchy, Male Competition, and Excess Male Mortality,” was published in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. It may be accessed here.