Gender differences in <scp>COVID‐19</scp>‐related stress and relationships with life satisfaction among financial advisors

Abstract This study examines gender differences in COVID‐19‐related stress and the relationship between COVID‐19‐related stress and life satisfaction in a large sample of financial advisors in the United States ( n = 499). Compared to men, women reported greater increases in work‐related stress since the onset of COVID‐19, higher levels of stress from managing family responsibilities, and more stress from witnessing the impact of COVID‐19 on their clients (i.e., empathetic stress). Using an integrative model of top‐down and bottom‐up influences on life satisfaction, COVID‐19‐related stress predicted life satisfaction among women but not men. Consistent with integrative models of both bottom‐up and top‐down influences on satisfaction assessment, trait affect was found to predict life satisfaction. Implications of the unequal stress of COVID‐19 on men and women within the financial planning profession are discussed.