Predicting the mental health of women employed in political and non-political Governmental Organizations based on gender role schemas

Subject Areas : Woman and family

Samaneh Shaterzadeh Yazdi ¹ (PhD student in Political Science, Department of Political Science , Faculty of Law, Theology and Political Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
Majid Tavasoliroknabadi ² (Associate Professor in Political Science, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Theology and Political Science, Science and Research Branch , Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author))
Seyyed Hossein Athari ³ (3. Associate Professor in Political Science, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.Iran.)

Received: 2021-03-27 Accepted : 2021-05-20 Published : 2022-05-22

Keywords: Employment, Women, mental health, Gender Role Schema,

Abstract :

Introduction: Employment of women in occupations with masculine gender stereotypes, in addition to multiple social roles due to inadequacy with feminine gender schemas has been associated with increased anxiety in women, which can endanger their mental health.Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 494 women employed in political (114) and non-political (380) governmental organizations in Mashhad in the years 1398-97 by census and cluster random sampling method, respectively. Data collection tools were Bem Sex Role Inventory and Goldberg General Health Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 22) and Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression analysis.Results: The results of Pearson correlation coefficient test showed that there was a significant direct relationship between the average score of social desirability schema and the subscale of anxiety and insomnia in women employed in political governmental organizations (p = 0.04, r = 0.19). However, there was a significant inverse relationship between the mean score of masculine gender role schemas and social dysfunction subscale in women employed in non-political governmental organizations (r = -0.24, p = 0.001). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that more social desirability characteristics in women employed in political governmental organizations were associated with more anxiety and insomnia. However, more masculine traits were associated with fewer social dysfunctions in women employed in non-political governmental organizations.

References:

1.         Powell GN, Greenhaus JH. Sex, gender, and decisions at the family→ work interface. Journal of management. 2010;36(4):1011-39.

2.         Arnania-Kepuladze T. Gender stereotypes and gender feature of job motivation: Differences or similarity? Management. 2019;8(1):2.

3.         McGinn KL, Oh E. Gender, social class, and women's employment. Current opinion in psychology. 2017;18(1):84-8.

4.         Rafatjah M. Changing gender stereotypes in Iran. International Journal of Women's Research. 2012;1(1):61-75.

5.         Beyraghi N, Soklaridis S. Toward an Understanding of the Gender Gap in Iran: Why Health Leaders Should Care and What They Can Do to Close the Gender Gap? Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. 2018(In Press).

6.         Bem SL. Gender Schema Theory: A Cognitive Account of Sex Typing Psychological Review. 1981;88(4):354-64.

7.         Liben LS, Bigler RS. Understanding and undermining the development of gender dichotomies: The legacy of Sandra Lipsitz Bem. Sex Roles. 2017;76(9-10):544-55.

8.         Starr CR, Zurbriggen EL. Sandra Bem’s gender schema theory after 34 years: A review of its reach and impact. Sex Roles. 2017;76(9-10):566-78.

9.         Janssen S, Backes-Gellner U. Occupational stereotypes, gender segregation and job satisfaction. posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, Originally published in: EALE, Cypres. 2011.

10.       Campos-Serna J, Ronda-Pérez E, Artazcoz L, Moen BE, Benavides FG. Gender inequalities in occupational health related to the unequal distribution of working and employment conditions: a systematic review. International journal for equity in health. 2013;12(1):57.

11.       Okimoto TG, Heilman ME. The “bad parent” assumption: How gender stereotypes affect reactions to working mothers. Journal of Social Issues. 2012;68(4):704-24.

12.       Milner A, King T, LaMontagne AD, Bentley R, Kavanagh A. Men’s work, Women’s work, and mental health: A longitudinal investigation of the relationship between the gender composition of occupations and mental health. Social Science & Medicine. 2018;204:16-22.

13.       Malhotra S, Shah R. Women and mental health in India: An overview. Indian journal of psychiatry. 2015;57(Suppl 2):S205-11.

14.       Glynn K, Maclean H, Forte T, Cohen M. The association between role overload and women's mental health. Journal of Women's Health. 2009;18(2):217-23.

15.       Butterworth P, Leach LS, Strazdins L, Olesen SC, Rodgers B, Broom D. The psychosocial quality of work determines whether employment has benefits for mental health: results from a longitudinal national household panel survey. Occup Environ Med. 2011;68(11):806-12.

16.       Bhanot S, Senn CY. Attitudes towards violence against women in men of South Asian ancestry: Are acculturation and gender role attitudes important factors? Journal of Family Violence. 2007;22(1):25.

17.       Krook M, Sanín JR. Violence against women in politics: A defense of the concept. Política y gobierno. 2016;23(2):459-90.

18.       Brody LR, Stokes LR, Dale SK, Kelso GA, Cruise RC, Weber KM, et al. Gender roles and mental health in women with and at risk for HIV. Psychology of women quarterly. 2014;38(3):311-26.

19.       Keener E, Mehta C. Sandra Bem: Revolutionary and Generative Feminist Psychologist. Sex Roles. 2017;76(1):525-8.

20.       Gartzia L, Pizarro J, Baniandres J. Emotional Androgyny: A Preventive Factor of Psychosocial Risks at Work? Frontiers in psychology. 2018;9(1):1-18.

21.       Lefkowitz ES, Zeldow PB. Masculinity and Femininity Predict Optimal Mental Health: A Belated Test of the Androgyny Hypothesis. Journal of Personality Assessment. 2006;87(1):95-101.

22.       Kravetz D, Jones LE. Androgyny as a standard of mental health. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 1981;51(3):502.

23.       Pauletti RE, Menon M, Cooper PJ, Aults CD, Perry DG. Psychological androgyny and children’s mental health: A new look with new measures. Sex Roles. 2017;76(11-12):705-18.

24.       Aboualghasemi A, kiyamarsi A. Relationship of androgyny and mental health with marital adjustment in women. Womens studies. 2006;4(1):55-66.

25.       Olsson MIT, Martiny SE. Does Exposure to Counterstereotypical Role Models Influence Girls’ and Women’s Gender Stereotypes and Career Choices? A Review of Social Psychological Research. Frontiers in psychology. 2018;9:2264.

26.       Bem SL. The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology. 1974;42(2):155.

27.       Campbell T, Gillaspy Jr JA, Thompson B. The factor structure of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI): Confirmatory analysis of long and short forms. Educational and psychological Measurement. 1997;57(1):118-24.

28.       Holt CL, Ellis JB. Assessing the current validity of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Sex roles. 1998;39(11-12):929-41.

29.       Aliakbari M, Mohtashmi T, Hasanzadeh P. The study of psychometric characteristics in short form Bems Sex-Role Inventory with emphasis on factor analysis in Iranian population. Social Cognition. 2013;1(1):44-58.

30.       Makowska Z, Merecz D, Moscicka A, Kolasa W. The validity of general health questionnaires, GHQ-12 and GHQ-28, in mental health studies of working people. International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health. 2002;15(4):353-62.

31.       Goldberg DP, Hillier VF. A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological medicine. 1979;9(1):139-45.

32.       Sterling M. General health questionnaire–28 (GHQ-28). Journal of physiotherapy. 2011;57(4):259.

33.       Taghavi S. Validity and reliability of the general health questionnaire (ghq-28) in college students of shiraz university. Journal of psychology. 2002;5(4):381-98.

34.       Garcia-Retamero R, Lopez-Zafra E. Causal attributions about feminine and leadership roles: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2009;40(3):492-509.

35.       Kahalon R, Shnabel N, Becker JC. Positive stereotypes, negative outcomes: Reminders of the positive components of complementary gender stereotypes impair performance in counter‐stereotypical tasks. British Journal of Social Psychology. 2018;57(2):482-502.

36.       Forshaw K, Shmukler D. Sex-role orientation and psychological well-being: A critique of the masculinity model. South African Journal of Psychology. 1993;23(2):81-6.

37.       Abolqhaserni A, Kiyamarsi A. Relationship of Androgyny and Mental Health with Marital Adjustment in Women. Quarterly Journal of Womens Sudies Sociological ad Psychological. 2006;4(1):55-66.