rationale, aims & outline

493 Pages·2013·3.38 MB·English

Sex Role Identity and Wellbeing
INTRODUCTION: RATIONALE, AIMS & OUTLINE
In the past six decades there has been a tremendous interest in and empirical research on the
negative impact of work stress on psychological wellbeing (Fielden & Cooper, 2001; Goh, Sawang
& Oie, 2010; Haines, Hurlbert & Zimmer, 1990; Schabracq & Cooper, 2000). Stress in
organisations has become a central concern for both organisational researchers and management
practitioners because of its relationship to a multitude of individual and organisational symptoms.
The need to explore the impact of work stress has been necessitated by the enormous cost
implications that it has in terms of stress-related illness for both individuals and organisations
(Acker, 2004; Baatjies, Fouche, Watson &Povey, 2006; Foley,Ngo,&Lui,2005; Snooks, 2005).
Research on the means to minimise stress or attenuate its impact on individual and organisational
strain have centred on the role of gender and personality in stress perception and on the beneficial
effects of social support on stress and health (Mackay, Cousins, Kelly, Lee & McCaig, 2004;
Sarason & Sarason, 1990; Weeks, McLean & Berger, 2005).
Yet the research on stress, gender and social support has been plagued with equivocal findings.
With regard to stress and gendera large body of research evidence suggests that women,in general,
respond more negatively to stress than men. Furthermore, research suggests that men and women
experience stress differently with certain stressors having more of a negative impact on women
while others have more of a negative impact on men. However, these findings have not been
consistent. In this respect, what the research has revealed is that not all women and not all men
perceive the same stressors in the same way. Furthermore all women and all mendo not respond to
a set of specific stressors with the same manifestations of strain.
These, at times, contrary findings have been attributed to the fact that much of the research has
viewed gender from a dichotomous biological perspective without exploring the possible within
gender differences with regard to behavioural repertoire (defined in terms of variations in sex role
identity) that affect the way in which men and women (biologically defined) perceive of and
respond to stress.
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With regard to stress and social support, while much of the research has demonstrated the positive
effect of support on stress and health,there have been many researchers who have found support to
have no effect on perceptions of stress and/or no moderating effect in the relationship between
stress perception and strain. In some instances, negative effects have been demonstrated in that
social support has been shown to exacerbate the relationship between stress and strain (Crockett &
Neff, 2012; Croezen, Haveman-Nies, Picavet, Smid, de Groot, van Veer & Verschuren, 2010;
Gleason, Shrout & Bolger, 2008; Jungwa Ha, 2009; Kappes & Shrout, 2011; Lincoln & Chae,
2010; O’Reilly, 1988; Siewert, Antoniw, Kubiak & Weber, 2011; Tardy, 1985). These equivocal
findings have been attributed to a number of theoretical problems identified in the social support
literature. These pertain to a lack of conceptual clarity with regard to defining the construct and a
lack of specificity with regard to matching up the right sources of support with specific stress strain
situations (Cohen &Wills, 1985; Kappes & Shrout, 2011; Payne &Jones, 1987; Tardy, 1985).
Furthermore, historically, internationally and within South Africa, much of the previous research
conductedon workstress, particularly ata managerial level,has focused largely on the male gender
and has been carried out on samples that were predominantly white (Clark, Chandler & Barry,
1996; Fielden & Cooper, 2001; Guppy & Rick, 1996; Rydstedt, Johansson & Evans, 1998;Van den
berg & Van Zyl, 2008). Within South Africa, pre-1994, managerial positions were mainly the
preserve of white males. However with the change in political dispensation and the promulgation of
the Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998 (Republic of South Africa, 1998) current trends in the
South African workplace have seen a change in the demographics of the South African workforce
with an ever-increasing number of South African females, of all races, occupy higher level
positions within organisations. This gender shift has meant that women are now being exposed to
greater work demands and work stress than previously (Thomas, 2003; Van den berg & Van Zyl,
2008).
The implications of this increased demand upon women’s health has been widely documented
internationally with figures indicating that work stress-related illness is no longer the preserve of
males. Increasingly women are developing the same type of stress-related disorders seen in male
managers as a result of their increased representation within higher level positions (Cheng,
Kawachi, Coakley, Schwartz &Colditz, 2000).
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Consequently, in order to address the gaps in research that has looked mainly at white male
managers, the purpose of the present research was to explore the work stress experience of South
African female managers of varying sex role identities across all race groups, with the aim of
identifying which factors within this stress process can serve to reduce or circumvent the ‘female’
experience of stress and its negative health outcomes.
The present study’s objectives was thus to assess variations in the sex role identities of female
managers and how these relate to perceptions of occupational stress, social support and indicators
of wellbeing. In addition, the study explored the role of social support from various sources as
utilisedby female managers of various sex role identities, in the stress-wellbeing relationship.
More specifically the present study objectives were todetermine
1. Whether individuals with varying patterns of sex role identity had differing perceptions of
stress;
2. Whether individuals with varying patterns of sex role identity had differing perceptions of
self-esteem;
3. Whether individuals with varying patterns of sex role identity had differing perceptions
psychological wellbeing;
4. Whether individuals with varying patterns of sex role identity had differing perceptions of
social support;
5. Whether, under varying conditions of stress, individuals with varying patterns of sex role
identity had differing perceptions of self-esteem andpsychological wellbeing;and
6. Whether, in the event of stress perception, different sources of social support would have a
moderating effect upon self-esteemand psychological wellbeing.
The rationale for these objectives and the findings obtained are presented through a number of
chapters, the structure and outline of which are as follows:
Chapter 1 to 6 reviews the literature in order to locate the study within the context of stress, sex,
gender, social support and wellbeing. The literature review provides a comprehensive discussion of
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the previous research on all of these aforementioned variables and the relationships between them.
This discussion is then followed by an in-depth reviewof the mixed findings on these relationships
and the gaps in present knowledge that these mixed findings suggest. Furthermore, the relevance of
these findings to the South African population and how the present study aims to address these gaps
within the South African context will be contextualised.More specifically:
Chapter 1 reviews the general literature on stress, historically defining stress and the key stress
traditions and the models developed from these traditions. The chapter highlights both biological
and psychological traditions of stress and the models that evolved from these traditions. In
particular,the chapter focuses on the Transactional Model of stress and considers the limitations of
this model. Limitations of the model are examined by delineating the wide variety of inter- and
extra-organismic variables that are implicated in the stress process and their lack of explicit
inclusion within the Transactional Model. The chapter concludes with a discussion as to how the
present study intends to address these limitations.
Chapter 2 reviews the literature on occupational stress and positions the proposed model that will
be used in the present research within the occupational context. This is attained by examining
occupational stress models and incorporating aspects of these occupational models into the
Transactional Modeldescribed within Chapter 1. This incorporation is undertakenin order to firmly
position the Transactional Model within the occupational context and thereby enhance its
explanation of the work-stress-strain process. The Chapter thus proposes an eclectic version of the
Transactional Model proposed by Cox and Mackay (1981) and Lazarus and Folkman (1984) by
integratingvarious componentsdescribed in a number of other key occupational stress models.
Chapter 3 provides a detailed review on the research literature conducted on the relationship
between stress, sex and gender, coping,wellbeingand social support. The chapter commences with
a discussion of the extent to which women’s participation in the labour force, at both professional
and managerial levels, has increased over the years particularly within South African post-1994.
The chapter then moves on to examine the differences between men and women with regard to
perceptions of stressors, coping with stressors, the outcomes of such stressors on health and
wellbeing and the differences between men and women with regard to social support provision and
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utilisation. The chapter concludes with the observation that there are inconsistencies in this body of
research as not all men and not all women respond in precisely the same way to stressors. In
addition the chapter concludes that not all men and not all women adopt the same patterns of social
support provision and utilisation. The conclusion notes that these inconsistencies will be fully
explored within Chapter 5. However as Social Support is central focus of two of the study’s
hypotheses,before exploring inconsistencies, Chapter 4 is devoted to a thorough examination of the
construct.
Chapter 4 provides a comprehensive literature review on social support. This review offers a
detailed discussion on the origins of the construct and the various definitions of social support in
terms of type, source and effects. The chapter provides a specific focus on the work stress social
support literature in order to position social support within the occupational context of the present
study. The chapter distinguishes between perceived versus enacted support and pro-social versus
antisocial support and the extent to which individual characteristics and early socialisation
experiences can determine the way in which social support is utilised. The chapter further
elaborates on the relationship between stress, sex and gender, social support and wellbeing by
examining previous literature on the topic. As with Chapter 3, Chapter 4 comments on
inconsistencies within the social support literature with regard to its effects and with regard to the
disparities in the literature relating to sex and social support. The chapter notes that not all men and
not all women adopt the same patterns of social support provision and usage and it is noted that
these inconsistencies and the aforementioned consistencies in relation to sex and stress discussed in
Chapter 3 are to be examined in depth in Chapter 5.
Chapter 5 provides a discussion of sex and gender and promotes an argument as to why the two
terms should be regarded to be theoretically and practically distinct. The argument does however
take into account the interaction between the two, acknowledging that the development of gender is
not entirely independent of the constraints of one’s biological sex. A number of theories are
examined which explicate the development of gender or sex role identity. The examination of these
theories accounts for the extent to which individuals are sex-typed and the extent to which
stereotypes prescribe the roles that biological males and females should or should not adopt. The
chapter also delineates the historical movement of gender role theories, following the evolution of
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these theories from those that were unifactorial to those that were multidimensional. The chapter
pays specific attention to the pioneering work of Sandra Bem which commenced in the 1970s and
which led to the emergence of the ‘Androgyny Era’. The chapter concludes with a discussion on
the inconsistencies evident in the research literature on sex and gender, stress, and social support
proposing that these inconsistencies may have arisen due to previous research havingonly explored
gender from a dichotomous perspective, thatis, gender that is biologically defined.
Chapter 6 explores the concept of androgyny, defining the concept, the measurement instrument
that have been utilised to measure it and the context of the feminist movement within which the era
of androgyny developed. The chapter furtherprovides an in-depth examination and a critique of the
research literature on psychological androgyny, explicating the various limitations associated with
this literature.The chapter closes and concludes on these limitations along with those raised within
the previous chapters, providing a discussion of the theoretical knowledge and research gaps that
these limitationssuggest and how the present study intendsto address these.
Chapter 7outlines the aims and rationale of the present study, the proposed research questions and
hypotheses, the research design, the theoretical model adopted and the measuring instruments that
will be utilised to test the proposed hypotheses. In addition, the chapter covers the data analyses
that are employed to assess the proposed relationships between the variables, as described within
the hypotheses, the procedure that will be applied in operationalising the study and ethical
considerations.
Chapter 8 contains the empirical findings obtained within the present study. The various phases of
the study are described along with a detailed description of the sample utilised within each phase of
the study. A detailed description of all the data analyses conducted, the results of the assumptions
tests underlying each statistical technique, and the findings of the analyses are presented.
Summaries and concluding comments of all findings are also presented for ease of interpretation of
the analyses conducted within the many phases of the study.
Chapter 9 is devoted to a detailed discussion and interpretation of the present study’s findings.
Both non-significant and significant findings are discussed and their implications in relation to the
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previous literature are elaborated upon in depth. The contributions of the present study’s findings
to the body of research on sex role identity, stress and wellbeing arespecifically highlighted.
Chapter 10 concludes the research report, with a discussion of the study’s theoretical and
methodological limitations, the implications thereof for future research and the researcher’s
concluding comments.
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CHAPTER 1: STRESS: A LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
A vast amount of international and South African research has indicated the substantial negative
impact of stress upon individual wellbeing in both work and non-work settings (Bakker &
Demerouti, 2006; Bakker, van Veldhoven & Xanthopoulou, 2010; Cunningham, Lischeron, Koh &
Farrier, 2004; Fielden & Cooper, 2001; Ganster & Rosen, 2013; Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman &
Johnson, 2005; Lin & Ensel, 1989; McNair, Vojick, Congdon, Monacelli & Lamont, 2006; Mackay
et al., 2004; Schabracq & Cooper, 2000; Snooks, 2005; Vaananen, Antila, Turtainen & Varje,
2012).This research has revealed that there is enormous health and cost implications at individual,
organisational and societal levels when individuals are exposed to excessive stressors in the form of
acute and/or chronic work stressor events (Ganster & Rosen, 2013; Vaananen, et al., 2012). With
regard to health,at an individual level work stress has been shown to lead to a decrements in a wide
variety of health indicators ranging from impaired psychological wellbeing (anxiety, depression,
psychological distress, exhaustion and burnout); physiological impairments (increases in somatic
symptoms such as headaches, muscular-skeletal problems, high blood pressure and cardiovascular
disease) and an increase in negative health behaviours (increased smoking, substance abuse and a
greater dependency on prescription medications) (Ganster & Rosen, 2013). Such individual health
decrements, in turn, have cost implications for organisations as workers engage in greater
absenteeism, suffer from lowered morale and motivation, decreased job satisfaction and lowered
levels of productivity. With regard to costs, a conservative estimate of the costs caused by work-
related stress to both organisations and health care systems amount to some twenty billion euros
annually (Vaananen et al., 2012). Work stress is thus considered to a major hazard that profoundly
threatens worker health and lowers worker productivity, thereby heavily costing organisations and
placing an immensefinancial burden on societal health care systems(Vaanenen et al., 2012).
Given the enormous impact that work stress has at all levels, that is, the individual organisational
and societal level, research interest in this area has continued to grow globally (Siegrist, Lunaa,
Wahrendorf &Dragano, 2012).
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This research on work stress has been guided by a number of general stress approaches, definitions
and models (Ganster & Rosen, 2013). Below follows an historical review of these approaches,
definitions and models,commencing with the seminal works of Selye (1935) and Cannon (1936) to
more modern day 20thand 21stcentury approaches.
1.1TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF STRESS–AN HISTORICAL REVIEW
O’Driscoll and Brough (2003) suggest that while a multitude of definitions of stress exist, the
majority of researchers agree on the notion of a stressor as an event or stimulus within the
environment, and a strain as an indication of the reaction of an individual to that stressor. More
specifically, Ganster and Rosen (2013) note that stress can be thought of as a feature of the
environment that acts upon the individual and that manifests in individual responses to these
environmental demands, threats and/or challenges (psychologically, physiologically and
behaviourally) and that the stressor-strain relationship is thus an interaction between the two,that is,
between the environment and the individual. Within this view stressors are considered antecedents
and strains are the psychological, physiological and behavioural reactions to stressful antecedent
events. Stress is thus considered to be an overall process linking stressors, strain, and coping
(O’Driscoll & Brough, 2003). Ganster and Rosen (2013) and Jex (1998) add that within the
organisational context, exposure to stressors, in the form of stressful occupational conditions,
generally results in high levels of strain. Strain may manifest in poor physical health and reduced
psychological wellbeing in individuals and poor organisational outcomes in terms of reduced
productivity, job satisfaction and organisational commitment and increased absenteeism, turnover
and intention to leave. O’Driscoll and Brough (2003) identify three general and seminal
approaches to stress, namely, the stimulus-response based approach, the transactional approach
and the interactional approach.
Stimulus-response based approaches fall under the Biological or Physiological tradition while
transactional and interactional approaches fall under the Psychosocial or Psychological tradition. A
review of these approaches will examine the models of stress that they propose and will outline
how the more recent psychological models have evolved out of the earlier biological tradition. In
addition, the review will identify the strengths and weaknesses within these models, concluding
with a discussion of the model to be used within the present research’s framework.
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1.2 THE BIOLOGICAL STRESSTRADITION
The stimulus-response based biological definitions of stress were developed within the fields
of medicine and physiology (Ganster & Rosen, 2013; O’Driscoll & Brough, 2003) More
specifically, the modern roots of this biological stress tradition began with Cannon’s (1936) and
Selye’s (1935; 1976) work on emotional stress. Both describe stress as an orchestrated defence
operated by physiological systems designed to protect the body from environmental harm.
According to Cannon (1936) an organism would respond to stress, that is, an outside threat, with an
emergency response. Such a response would be adaptive in that it would prepare the organism to
cope with danger. Recognition of such danger would be followed by adrenal gland activity and
sympathetic arousal that increased heart rate, respiration and skeletal muscle tone while reducing
blood flow to the skin and viscera. This heightened state of arousal would then better enable the
organism to fight or flee from the threat (Bloisi, Cook & Hunsaker, 2007;Brown-Baaitjies, Fouche,
Watson & Ogden, 2006; Fleming, Baum & Singer, 1984; Ganster & Rosen, 2013; Hobfoll, 1989;
Mackayet al., 2004; Ogden, 2004; Singer & Davidson, 1986).
Selye (1935) defined stress as a non-specific response of the body to any demand made upon it
noting that the physiological stress response did not depend on the nature of the stressor, nor within
reason, on the species within which it was evoked. The response syndrome thus represented a
universal pattern of defence reactions serving to protect the organism (person or animal) and
his/her/it’s integrity (Cox 1978).
Selye (1935) went further and described a three stage process of bodily stress reactions referred to
as the General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) (Bloisi et al., 2007; Brown-Baaitjies et al., 2006;
Fleminget al.,1984).
The first stage referred to as Alarm Reaction is where the body demonstrates physiological changes
characteristic of initial exposure to a stressor. These changes manifest in pupil dilation, increased
heart rate and galvanic skin response (Bloisi et al., 2007; Chalmers, 1981; Cox, 1978). The second
stage, referred to as Resistance, occurs if the stressor or stressors persists. Here alarm reaction
disappears to be replaced by changes which mark the individual’s adaptation to the situation. At
this particular point the individual engages in a fight or flight response. At the third stage, if the
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