Sex Role Effects on Female Response to Illness

Abstract

In order to advance understanding of the complex social process of individual

health behavior, this study examined the differentials of health status and healch

service utilization by men and women among rural Koreans. Using National

Health Survey data collected in 1981, we tested the hypothesis that different sex

role expectations would lead different health-related behaviors for men and

women.

The results show that women in rural Korea feel less healthy than men in terms

of perceived morbidity factors, while they have relatively unfavorable experiences

in the level of health service utilization and the types of service facilities they used. These results are interpreted to confirm that women's health behavior is a reflection of their situation as women. In the case of the sample population, the strong patriarchal tradition seems to put an extra-burden on women and thus demand more strict female roles from them in rural Korea.