Explaining Women’s Mental Health Based on Gender Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Sexual Self-Concept and Self-Coherence
Keywords:
Self, cohesion, Gender beliefs, Mental health, Sexual self, concept, WomenAbstract
Introduction and Aim: Women’s mental health is shaped by a complex interaction of social, cultural, and intrapsychic factors, while gender beliefs may influence psychological well-being by shaping self-perception, identity coherence, and perceptions of sexual identity. This study aimed to explain women’s mental health based on dimensions of gender beliefs and to examine the mediating roles of self-coherence and sexual self-concept in these relationships.
Methodology: This applied, quantitative, descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional study employed structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of married women in Kermanshah, Iran, from whom 181 participants were recruited through convenience sampling. Data were collected using Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, Snell’s Multidimensional Sexual Self-Concept Questionnaire, and Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence Questionnaire. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was conducted using SmartPLS.
Findings: Masculinity (β=0.293, t=2.632, p=0.001) and femininity (β=0.312, t=2.354, p=0.001) had significant positive direct effects on mental health, whereas the neutral gender-role dimension was nonsignificant (β=0.094, t=0.504, p=0.684). Self-coherence (β=0.349, t=3.201) and sexual self-concept (β=0.252, t=3.895) also positively and significantly predicted mental health. The indirect effects of masculinity and femininity through self-coherence were 0.088 and 0.109, respectively, while their indirect effects through sexual self-concept were 0.103 and 0.090; all were statistically significant. In contrast, neither mediation pathway involving the neutral dimension reached statistical significance.
Conclusion: Masculinity and femininity contribute to women’s mental health both directly and indirectly through enhanced self-coherence and sexual self-concept. Psychological and counseling interventions aimed at strengthening identity coherence, fostering a positive sexual self-concept, and modifying maladaptive gender-related beliefs may therefore be useful for promoting mental health among married women.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Fatemeh Safari (Author); Omid Moradi; Mahmoud Goudarzi (Author)
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