Sex-role orientation, marital status and mental health in working women

Summary

The objectives of this study were to make a men-women comparison as to the effects of job stress and sex-role orientation on mental health and to determine if marital status modifies effects of job stress and sex-role orientation on mental health in women. Subjects were 644 men and 301 women who were working at two private companies and one national agency. Job contents, sex-role orientation and mental health were measured by the Job Content Questionnaire, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the 30-item General Health Questionnaire, respectively. High job demands and femininity in men, masculinity in women predicted poor mental health. The best predictor of poor mental health was consciousness of being a woman in unmarried women, and stress outside the job in married women.