The effects of workplace press on working women's psychological well-being
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of the relationship between women's needs for affiliation and achievement and the potential for the workplace environment to satisfy or frustrate those needs (termed press) on working women's psychological well-being. Specifically, the influences of press and the interaction between needs (as measured by the Affiliation and Achievement subscales of the Personal Research Form-E) and press (as measured by the Gender-Specific Workplace Press Scale) were assessed in terms of their effects on 237 female employees' general self-efficacy, self-esteem, and social loneliness. To measure workplace press, the Gender-Specific Workplace Press Scale (GSWPS) was developed by this author. The GSWPS consists of two scales which represent two environmental domains: Personal Development and Relationships. Two sets of analyses were conducted. First, the residual effects of workplace Press were evaluated using hierarchical multiple regressions. As expected, (1) women in high Personal Press workplaces reported greater general self-efficacy than women in low Personal Press workplaces, regardless of race, age, and Need for Achievement; (2) women in high Relationship Press workplaces reported greater self-esteem than women in low Relationship Press workplaces, regardless of marital status, age, and Need for Affiliation; and (3) women in high Relationship Press workplaces reported less social loneliness than women in low Relationship Press workplaces, regardless of marital status, race, age, and Need for Affiliation. Second, conditional effects were evaluated. Two approaches to examining interactions within a multiple regression framework were utilized in order to investigate the relationship between Press X Need product terms. The two methods yielded consistent, although not identical results. In high Personal Press workplaces, women high in Need for Achievement reported significantly greater self-efficacy than women low in Need for Achievement; in low Personal Press workplaces, women high in Need for Achievement reported significantly less self-efficacy than women low in Need for Achievement. In high Relationship Press workplaces, women high in Need for Affiliation reported significantly greater self-esteem than women low in Need for Affiliation; in low Relationship Press workplaces, women high in Need for Affiliation reported significantly less self-esteem than women low in Need for Affiliation. Finally, in high Relationship Press workplaces, women high in Need for Affiliation reported significantly less social loneliness than women low in Need for Affiliation; in low Relationship Press workplaces, women high in Need for Affiliation reported significantly more social loneliness than women low in Need for Affiliation.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology|Womens studies|Occupational psychology
Recommended Citation
Lawrence, Debra Lynn, "The effects of workplace press on working women's psychological well-being" (1999). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9926912.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9926912
