Psychological Well-Being of Working Women: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Details

• Personal Author:
  Robinson JW ; Swanson N
• Description:
  Although the literature on the relationship between work and the family has grown substantially over the past 20 years, it is based primarily on studies conducted with white, middle-class workers. Thus, it is questionable whether findings can be generalized to nonwhite populations. This paper addresses the situation by utilizing a diverse sample. Semi-structured interviews about work, family, and work-family interactions were tape-recorded with eight minority and 13 white school counselors from a large southwestern city. Qualitative analysis of the tapes revealed reports by both white and minority workers of bi-directional influences between the work and family domains, as well as work-derived psychologic, cognitive, and social benefits. However, there were distinct differences between minority and white workers in their reports of workplace and family experiences, and in coping strategies. The most distinct findings were a difference between the two groups in their perceptions of work as a "choice" (white workers) versus an "obligation" (minority workers), and a dichotomous model of work-family interactions among minority workers in which they compartmentalized their work and family lives. These results have implications for workplace policies and procedures, and point to the necessity of including the perspectives of minority subjects in future work-family research. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Mental Health Occupational Health Race Factors Safety Stress, Psychological Women Workplace
• Keywords:
  Psychological-effects Psychological-stress Racial-factors Workplace-studies
• ISSN:
  1534-5874
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  214-218
• Volume:
  2
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022342
• Citation:
  Curr Womens Health Rep 2002 Jun; 2(3):214-218
• Contact Point Address:
  Alzheimer's Association, 919 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1100, Chicago, IL 60611
• Email:
  jennie.robinson@alz.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment and Workforce: Special Populations
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Current Women's Health Reports
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fcd28bfdd07d543070ce366af6fdefe48f38a2ef30ed7bc42292fd09a2b6d6c87a7d03cb68439a3b93774e2fce0e89341e91010eefda47168778bcd471147de0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199151/cdc_199151_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 313.17 KB ]