Gender Differences in COVID-19-related Stress and Relationships with Life Satisfaction among Financial Advisors

Abstract

This study examines gender differences in COVID-19-related stress and the relationship between COVID-19-related stress and life satisfaction in a large sample of financial advisors in the United States (n = 499). Compared to men, women reported greater increases in work-related stress since the onset of COVID-19, higher levels of stress from managing family responsibilities, and more stress from witnessing the impact of COVID-19 on their clients (i.e., empathetic stress). Using an integrative model of top-down and bottom-up influences on life satisfaction, COVID-19-related stress predicted life satisfaction among women but not men. Consistent with integrative models of both bottom-up and top-down influences on satisfaction assessment, trait affect was found to predict life satisfaction. Implications of the unequal stress of COVID-19 on men and women within the financial planning profession are discussed.