Q. Several of the girls in my math class say that they don’t “test well.” They all do well on homework and work in class as long as it is not timed, but the minute that the word test is mentioned, they panic. Why is this a problem for the girls in my class?
A. Generally, we think of the reaction to stress as fight-or-flight. This is the reaction in our body to a threat, real or imagined, and under the influence of adrenalin, blood floods our muscles and brain together with oxygen and blood sugar to provide energy for us to make decisions and to act. Recently, a theory has been proposed that some women do not react this way to stress. Their reaction has been termed tend-and-befriend in which the body reacts in the opposite way. Under the influence of oxytocin, the blood goes to the center of the body, the person has a hard time moving or making decisions and may become nauseated or sick to their stomach. The reason for this reaction to stress has been said to have developed to help females protect their young by staying with the babies. If a young woman sees a test as a threat, she may react with tend-and-befriend and will find it difficult to make decisions or to act. The result will be a poor result on a test. This doesn’t happen to all girls or to girls all the time.