Identifying Difference in Perceptions of Academic Stress and Reaction to Stressors Based on Gender among First Year University Students

This study identifies the difference in the perceptions of academic stress and reaction to stressors based on gender among first year university students in Nigeria. Student Academic Stress Scale (SASS) was the instrument used to collect data from 2,520 first year university students chosen through systematic random sampling from Universities in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. To determine gender differences among the respondents, independent samples t-test was used via SPSS version 15.0. The results of research showed that male and female respondents differed significantly in their perceptions of frustrations, financials, conflicts and selfexpectations stressors but did not significantly differ in their perceptions of pressures and changesrelated stressors. Generally, no significant difference was found between male and female respondents in their perceptions of academic stressors, however using the mean scores as basis, female respondents scored higher compared to male respondents. Regarding reaction to stressors, male and female respondents differ significantly in their perceptions of emotional and cognitive reactions but did not differ significantly in their perceptions of physiological and behavioural reaction to stressors.