Work is a central part of life and society. Occupational life is organised in many ways to satisfy the individual’s requirements for achievement, gain, friendship, success and self-esteem, among other positive attributes. Maslow, a leading humanistic psychologist once said: “I think I am just most happy and most fulfilled and most myself, and most being as if that’s what I were meant to be, when I am involved in my work.” In general, individuals report several positive aspects to being employed and claim being satisfied with their work.

However, with changes in job characteristics, technology, work relationships and spill-over between the work and family interface, individuals at work are faced with ever-mounting pressures that consequently impact on their health.

Generally, men and women report the same positive aspects of being employed, including positive personal feelings such as increased self-esteem, personal identity, self-confidence, independence, a sense of accomplishment about being able to provide for their family, being a role model for their children as well as feeling like an active member of society. These feelings of accomplishment and psychological well-being are often derived from the continuing acquisition of knowledge, responsibility, the production of something new, exposure to different novel situations at work and is an important contributor to adult adjustment (Herzberg, 1966).

Researchers have looked at social relationships at work and, in retrospect, it appears that social factors are also important to individuals in their jobs. Interactions with colleagues may assist in solving problems through the exchange of information, advice and practical help. In addition, social contact and support lead to friendship and pleasant experiences.

Men derive a sense of self-worth and accomplishment from work not only because of high pay, high control and socially constructed views that men need to provide financially for their family (Lee & Owens, 2002) but also because work may constitute a challenge and a driving force in their lives.

For women, work is a source of self-esteem and gives a feeling of mastery particularly in cases of job autonomy, non-routinised work and when they are well remunerated and supported. Women’s multiple roles may increase their social status as well as the social support that they gain from multiple contacts and those elements are considered beneficial for their health.

On the other side, research has been conducted to examine the possible negative impact of work on the psychological well-being of em-ployees. It has been argued that both men and women report experiencing job-related stress and are exposed to similar stressors, although there are certain additional stressors to which women are more likely to be exposed (Offerman & Armitage, 1993). Both genders report stressors like job complexity, shift work, monotonous work, absence of control, work overload (excessive demands) and underload (lack of tasks), role conflict (when the directives are incompatible to meet the demands of the job and resources are insufficient) and role ambiguity (lack of clarity about job roles and expectations in order to perform optimally) which generate psychological strain.

Organisational stereotypes

Kua (1999) found that senior doctors faced considerable role ambiguity, conflict and overload. They were expected to assume a number of roles – being a clinician, teacher, researcher and even administrator, the results of which were stress symptoms, frustration, low morale and burnout. Burnout is characterised by depersonalisation, emotional exhaustion and a lack of sense of personal accomplishment.

The organisation portrays the workplace as gender neutral, but there is substantial evidence to show that gender bias prevails in both subtle and overt ways (Schabracq & al, 1996). In fact, women are less likely than men to be promoted to higher occupational ranks and even with the same job and the same occupation as men, women earn lower pay and are less entitled to bonuses than male employees. Organisational stereotypes exist, for example the preconceived notion that “the good manager is necessarily male” and widespread bias related to poor fit of health issues with company policy, whereby pregnancy is seen as a problem, while alcoholism and heart disease in men are not regarded as a gender-relevant concerns (Schabracq & al, 1996). Researchers found that sex discrimination, inequity of pay, underutilisation of skills and lack of support from the boss had psychological implications for female employees. The latter experienced high levels of depression, psychosomatic symptoms, irritation and drug use.

The staggering problem of sexual harassment in the workplace is also alarming. Women experiencing sexual harassment are less satisfied and committed to their work and report poorer emotional and psychological well-being. Another considerable source of stress in women’s occupational life is the spill-over between work and family interface. While work and family represent important life roles for most employed men and women, it has generally been found that women face more pressure than men in meeting the demands and responsibilities of their work and family roles. Work-family conflict arises when the demands of one role interfere with participation or performance of the other role. Indeed, a greater number of roles is likely to deplete scarce resources like time and energy with negative consequences for women’s physical and psychological health. Lack of time and energy in turn cause marital and parental stress, guilt and anxiety since women feel incapable of fulfilling all their responsibilities (Blumberg, 1991). As such, work may affect women’s health, when work is seen as a barrier to taking care of the family properly. However, investigators have underlined that employment is associated with positive mental health for women when the spouse is supportive and has a favourable attitude towards the wife’s employment and is willing to share household chores (Kessler & McRae, 1982).

Overall, it appears that individuals may enjoy working and may derive intrinsic satisfaction and a sense of physical and psychological well-being from work, especially when they are appropriately rewarded, enjoy high control in their job, are well-integrated in the organisation and well-supported by their superior and colleagues. On the other hand, both men and women face many similar stressors. However, women face additional stressors particular to their gender. Therefore, it is in the interest of the organisation to promote anti-discrimination policies and family-friendly policies as well as stress management interventions to ensure employees’ well-being and eventually optimum productivity and efficiency.

<B>Doreyya MOHUNGOO,</B> <I>Health Psychologist.</I>