Examining Gender Differences in the Roles of Meaning in Life and Interpersonal Expectancies in Depressive Symptoms

In the present study, we examined for gender differences in meaning in life (viz., presence of and searching for) and interpersonal expectancies (viz., positive and negative) as additive and interactive predictors of depressive symptoms in a sample of 117 male and 132 female college students. We found that meaning in life accounted for a significant amount of variance in depressive symptoms for both men and women. While presence of meaning in life was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms for both groups, it was a stronger predictor among women compared to men. Furthermore, we found that interpersonal expectancies accounted for additional variance in depressive symptoms above and beyond meaning in life for both groups, and interestingly, only positive interpersonal expectancy emerged as a significant predictor of depressive symptoms. Finally, the interactions involving meaning in life and interpersonal expectancies accounted for a significant amount of additional variance above and beyond the main effects for both men and women. However, a greater number of significant interactions emerged for women than for men. Implications of the present findings for understanding gender differences in meaning in life and interpersonal expectancies as predictors of depressive symptoms are discussed.