The home and near‐home area offer restoration opportunities differentiated by gender

Abstract

We explored gender differences in the experience of the home and near‐home area as settings for psychological restoration. Our survey was completed by 26 married couples living in Vällingby, a suburban community close to Stockholm. All couples had at least one child living at home, and at least one member of each couple had paid employment outside the home. All couples lived in 3‐bedroom apartments built in the 1950's and managed by the same landlord. The woman and man in each couple answered questions about subjective stress, restorative experiences in the home, and leisure time activities in the near‐home area. Although they reported a higher level of global stress than their husbands, the women less frequently had enough time for relaxing at home and gave the home lower ratings of restorative quality. Our results suggest that the value of the near‐home area as a place for restoration is similar for the women and men. However, a lower sense of safety in the area at night may constrain the women's opportunities for restorative activities outside of the home during those hours.