"A STUDY OF EFFECTS OF JOB STRESSORS ON

PROFESSIONAL WORKING WOMEN"

BY

Dr. Nuzhat Huma Akhtar

MBBS; MCPS; DPH; FCPS

Department of Community Medicine

Khyber Medical College
Peshawar

POSTAL ADDRESS:
Usmania Lane, New Arbab Colony
Jamrud Road, P.O. Tehkal Bala
PESHAWAR
N.W.F.P (Pakistan)

E-mail: [email protected]
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ABSTRACT

A study was conducted on 150 Professional Working Women of Peshawar, giving

equal representation to medical, teaching, and secretarial professions, to find out the

nature of stressors, they face at job, and impacts of these stressors on their physical and

psychological wel-being. A control group of 50 non-working women, matching in all

respects with the study group, with very minimum history of family stress, was selected for
comparison.

It was found that less chances of carrier development in the study group as

compared to their male colleagues, non-involvement in decision making meetings and

negative attitude of male colleagues made a working woman mentally upset. Moreover,

shift work caused more stress on them than the fixed time job. As the rule of strict pre-

employment and periodic medical check up was not observed, the job related illness, if

any, could not be detected in time. 27.33% of the respondents in the study group were

found to have physical or psychological illnesses as compared to the control group (12%).

KEY WORDS: Job Stressors, Professional working women

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INTRODUCTION

"Professional Working Women" are defined as "those women who are working in

some institution for a salary which is a fixed periodical payment." They are gaining

enormous importance now a days due to their enthusiasm to achieve greater objectivity in

life by devoting their valuable time, energy and intelligence to the promotion of available
resources. Women have not only excelled in teaching, medicine, nursing and social

services but they have also proved their worth in commercial fields like marketing,

advertising, banking, planning and development and administration etc.

As societies become more and more complex and technologically advanced,

women depend increasingly for their further development on their individual talent and

initiative. This has increased the trends towards working women. The women work

harder, give full time to their job, are more contented but get less chances to share in

different office management matters1.

It has been concluded by various studies that women cope with stress in a

physiologically more economical way but at a higher psychological cost 2. This feeling
creates a number of physical and psychological problems for them.

The term stress denotes a force that deforms bodies. In biology, it signifies

stereotype physiological "strain" reactions in the organism when it is exposed to various

environmental stimuli - stressors - e.g., to change in, or pressures and demands for

adjustment from, the environment3.

The areas of life that constitute possible sources of stress and subsequent stress

outcomes include social and cultural, domestic, work place and personal. A stressor from

one arena can effect the individual and this in turn, may activate changes in the type and

force of stressors from another arena4.

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The present study was concentrated upon to find out the effects of stressors at job

on professional working women in Peshawar. The objectives of the study were firstly to

find out the type of stressors, they face at work, and secondly to probe into the impact of

such stressors on their physical and psychological wel-being, as compared to the control

group, not exposed to such stressors.

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MATERIAL AND METHODS

The main purpose of the study was to find out the nature of stressors, a

Professional Working Woman faces at job, and their impacts on her physical and

psychological wel-being. The area of the study was Peshawar. Survey method was

adopted to draw the sample of professional working women. The institutions, from where

the samples were drawn, were categorized into medical, teaching and secretarial
professions. With the help of probability, a cluster sample of 50 respondents from each

category was randomly selected, the total sample being of 150 respondents. They were

subdivided according to their designation. In the category of medical profession, lady

doctors and nurses were included, whereas in teaching profession, teachers from high

schools, degree colleges and post-graduate departments of the University of Peshawar

were interviewed. Similarly in the category of secretarial profession bankers, female

secretaries and telephone operators were included. An interview schedule was designed

to find out age, working hours, nature and duration of job, family pattern, facilities provided

by the employers, attitude of supervisors and colleagues at work and its effects on their

job performance, opportunities to participate in decision making meetings, prospects of

career development and effects of all these factors on their health and psychological

behaviour. Respondents with a history of any physical or psychological disease before

induction into service were excluded from the study. 55 non-working women, otherwise

matching in all other variables, e.g., age, social status, education, marital status and

stress free family back ground were randomly selected as control group. A complete

clinical examination of all the respondents was conducted to detect any physical ailment.

Necessary investigations were carried out in suspected cases to confirm the diagnosis.

The respondents having any psychological problems were referred to psychiatry clinics for

further evaluation. The results were tabulated with the help of tally sheets. Chi-square and
 6

student "t" tests were applied to confirm the responses.

RESULTS

Table-1 shows the age distribution and marital status of the respondents in study

and control groups while, table-2 shows the job-wise distribution of the respondents in the

study group. Fig-1 depicts the family pattern (nuclear joint or extended) in both groups
and fig-2 shows the duration of job in the study group. 124 (82.67%) were from

government, 10 (6.67%) from semi-government, and 16 (10.67%) were from private

organizations. Table-3 shows the facilities provided by the employers. It is obvious that

medical facility is provided to most of the respondents, the second most common being

the accommodation. It was revealed that 62.00% of the respondents worked up to 6 hours

a day, 21.33% for 7-10 hours, and 16.66% worked for 11-14 hours, indicating that,

majority of the respondents worked for a maximum of 6 hours a day. A significant point

related to job was nature of work. 48.00% of the respondents replied that they worked in

shifts, while 52.00% revealed that their job was fixed time. It was found that shift work

caused more stress on the respondents in the study group than those having fixed time
jobs; P<0.001 (table-4).

Regarding the attitude of the supervisors and colleagues towards the respondents,

it was found that their attitude was cooperative towards the majority, constituting 68.67%

of the total. 10.67% said that their attitude was not cooperative, while, 20.67% described it

as indifferent. The psychological impacts of the attitude of supervisors and colleagues on

the respondents are shown in table-5, indicating that their non-co-operative attitude

psychologically upsets the respondents in study group (P<0.001).

It was interesting to find out, that in Peshawar, the view/attitude of the general

public towards the professional women was appreciating in 55.33% of cases, indifferent in
 7

34.67% while 10.00% of them complained that the general public's attitude towards them

was disliking.

Regarding the discrimination of sex at work, this was stated by 10.67% of the

respondents that they often felt it, while 50.00% said that discrimination of sex was

seldom felt by them. 39.33% of the working women, however declared that they never

experienced such discrimination.

About the prospects of career development as compared to their male colleagues,

24.00% said that they had an equal opportunity in this regard, 64.67% revealed that

chances were less as compared to their male colleagues, while, 11.33% claimed that they

had no hopes to get such chances. Regarding their participation in decision making

meetings, 22.00% replied that they were often given such opportunity, 61.33% said that it

was seldom given to them, while 16.67% complained that they were kept out of such

meetings. This created a sense of deprivation amongst the respondents. In 41 out of 150

respondents (27.33%) in the study group and 6 (10.91%) in the control group, it was

revealed that they got psychological or physical illnesses. Table-6 shows the details of

such problems (P<0.001). It was interesting to find that there was no strict pre-

employment or periodic medical check up, to find out any significant behaviour change or
psychosomatic disorder.
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DISCUSSION

A large number of potential stressors in the working environment have been

determined in many studies. These include such factors as shift work, work underload,

work overload, role conflict, unequal pay, job future ambiguity, relationship at work, and
the quality of working environment. Exposure to these psychosocial stressors may

contribute to a number of detrimental outcomes, including behavioural outcomes, such as

impaired job performance, drug abuse, and smoking, to physical illness, such as migraine

and hypertension etc., and to mental illness, such as depression.

Relationships at work, their nature, and the social support received from

colleagues, supervisors, and sub-ordinates, have been related to job stress5. Poor

relations with other members of an organization may produce psychological strain in the

form of low job satisfaction.

In a study, conducted in Peshawar, it has been stated that about 61.00% of women

on job believe that their male co-workers have a positive attitude towards them. According
to this study, only about 8.00%of the working women faced negative attitude of their male

colleagues6. These results are just comparable to the results of our study.

In another study, it has been found that most of the females were satisfied with

their jobs and responsibilities deputed to them but dissatisfaction was because of

environment of the organization, and attitude of their colleagues, which kept them

disturbed. The fact reported to this dissatisfaction was the social disrespect they get, as

their role at job is regarded as antisocial and anti traditional, when they have a direct

dealing with people having different mental approaches7. Lack of support from

supervisors and colleagues has been shown to be a potential occupational stressor 8. In

 9

our study, it can be seen that, the co-operative attitude of colleagues towards majority of

the respondents made them feel satisfied, and it gives them an incentive to work harder,

while majority of the respondents, who faced non-cooperative or indifferent attitude, got

upset and most of them lost interest in their work.

Professional Working Women, at their work places and outside, have to face the

attitudes of the general public. Adverse feelings of alienation and anomy can develop in

specific occupational groups who experience isolation from the community and/or adverse
community relationships9. In a study titled, "Status of Women in N.W.F.P.", about 49.00%

of the working women felt that the attitude of the community was positive towards them.

For over 13.00% it was negative, while about 18.00% of his respondents considered the

community to indifferent in this regard6. This almost confirms the results of our study

which indicates that the general public of Peshawar is becoming more and more aware of

the contributions of professional working women in different fields and renders them due

respect. However, as a matter of fact, exceptions are always there, but they constitute the

minority.

Stress in relation to organizational structure and atmosphere results from such

factors as office politics, lack of effective consultation and exclusion from decision-making
process. Whatever the case or reasons may be, it is evident from our survey, that most of

the professional working women have less or no chances of their career development as

compared to their male colleagues. Participation in decision making is essential to a

feeling of meaningfulness at work. This can be expressed as joy and pride in work or

discretionary freedom10. It has been suggested that greater participation led to higher

productivity, improved performance, and lower level of physical and mental disorders11.If

an individual has freely chosen the type of work he does, instead of having fallen into it,

he will experience joy and pride in what he is doing, and feels a sense of ownership in the

work. In the present, study, it was found that majority of professional working women were
 10

having a sense of deprivation because of non-participation in decision making meetings.

However, those, who were given such chance, felt satisfied.

A significant point related to job was nature of work, whether the respondents

working in shifts or their jobs were fixed time. There have been constant efforts to

introduce measures for uninterrupted work in different fields and these has led to a wider

utilization of shift work all over the world. Although, shift work may be useful for some

people, it creates social and health problems. Shift work produces a situation where there
is an alteration in waking and sleeping phases without a corresponding alteration in the

phasing of dominant social synchronizers12. From our study, it was obvious that the shift

work puts more strain on the respondents as compared to the fixed time job. The workers,

who have very little task to do, may get involved in such activities, which are harmful to

them as well as to the organization. Such workers may experience malaise, depression,

sleep disturbances, and anxiety13. In Sweden, according to information published by the

National Board of Health and Welfare, every third working person suffers from malaise,

sleep disorders, fatigue, dejection, or anxiety, and every seventh working person is

mentally exhausted at the end of the working day 14. Disturbances in bodily functions

commonly found in workers exposed to stressful situations in working life include

muscular symptoms - e.g., tension and pain, gastrointestinal symptoms - e.g., dyspepsia,

indigestion, vomiting, heartburns, constipation and irritation of the colon, cardiac

symptoms - e.g., palpitation, and arrhythmias, respiratory symptoms - e.g., dyspnoea and

hyperventilation, Central Nervous System symptoms - e.g., neurotic reaction, insomnia,

weakness, faintness, and some headaches, and, genital symptoms - e.g.,

dysmenorrhoea, frigidity and impotence15. In the present study, it was found that, 27.33%

of the respondents were suffering from different psychological or physical problems due to

job stress as compared to the control group.

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CONCLUSIONS:

1. Shift work causes more stress on professional working women than the fixed time

job.

2. negative attitude of male colleagues, less chances of carrier development as

compared to their male colleagues and non-involvement in decision making

meetings in majority of the respondents in the study group made them mentally

upset leading to physical and psychological problems.

3. Strict pre-employment and periodic medical check up is not carried out and thus,

the job related illness, if any, cannot be detected in time.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

In the light of the present study, the following recommendations need due

consideration of all concerned:

1. There should be an employment exchange at district level, where the

names of all the women who complete their education, should be registered

so that at the time of looking for the job, they should not face any difficulty.

2. Discrimination against women, in provision of jobs and wages, should be

eliminated.

3. Provision of health facilities to the professional working women should get

due consideration of the Government.

4. Transport facilities are almost non-existing for the women folk. It should be

the responsibility of employers to provide this facility to their women

employees so that they should not face any inconvenience.

5. Working hours of professional working women should be strictly followed

according to the law and those who violate this and exploit the working

women potential should be punished.

6. Rule of pre-employment and periodic medical check-up should be strictly

followed in order to detect any job related health problems in time.

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REFERENCES:

1. Rauste Von Wright M, Et Al. Relationships between sex-related

psychological characteristics during adolescence and catecholamine
excretion during achievement stress. Psychophysiology 1981; 18: 362-370

2. Frankenhaeuser M, Et Al. Dissociation between sympathetic-adrenal and

pituitary-adrenal responses to an achievement situation characterized by
high controllability. Biological psychology 1980; 10: 79-91

3. Selye H. The evolution of the stress concept - stress and cardiovascular

disease. Oxford University Press 1971; 1: 299-311

4. Kalimo R, Et Al. Psychosocial factors at work and their relation to health.

Published by World Health Organization 1987: 99

5. Payne R. Organizational stress and social support IN: Current concerns in

occupational stress. Cooper. C. L. and Payne. R. (eds) New York, Brisbane,
and Toronto. Wiley. 1980: 269-298

6. Hussain F. Status of women in NWFP (PAKISTAN) Research funded by the

United States Agency for International Development 1992; P 51

7. Bano F. Attitude of working women towards their male colleagues in

Peshawar Thesis, Department of Social Work, Sociology, and
Anthropology, University of Peshawar 1986; p. 102

8. Caplan R D, Et Al. Job demands and worker health: main effects and
occupational differences 1975; Washington DC. United States Government
Office (DEHW Publication No. (NIOSH) 75-160.)

9. Davidson M J. Stress in the police service: a multifaceted model, research

proposal and pilot study 1979: Thesis, University of Queensland, Australia

10. Frankenhaeuser M. Coping with stress at work International journal of

health services 1981; 24: 491-510

11. Margolis B L Et Al. Job stress: an unlisted occupational hazard. Journal of

 14

occupational medicine 1974; 16: 659-661

12. Aschoff J, Wever R. Re-entrainment of circadian rythems after phase-shifts

of the zeitgeber. Chronobiologia 1975; 11: 23-78

13. Cox T. Repetitive work IN: Current concerns in occupational stress. Cooper
C L and Payne R. (eds) New York, Brisbane, and Toronto. Wiley. 1980: 23-
41.

14. Wolf S. Et Al. Occupational health as human ecology. Springfield. IL.

Thomas 1978.

15. Nerell G, Wahlund I. Stressors and strain in white collar workers. Oxford
University Press 1981; 4: 120-127

(Acknowledgements: The author is highly obliged to all the respondents who

contributed their valuable time and extended full support
during the course of this study).
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 Table-1

AGE DISTRIBUTION AND MARITAL STATUS

(STUDY AND CONTROL GROUPS)

STUDY GROUP CONTROL GROUP

S. No AGE (n=150) (n=55)
(YEARS)

MARRIED UNMARRIED TOTAL MARRIED UNMARRIED TOTAL

1 21-25 3 15 18 2 6 8

2 26-30 45 27 72 14 5 19

3 31-35 15 11 26 4 2 6

4 36-40 4 4 8 6 1 7

5 41-45 8 4 12 6 0 6

6 46-50 6 2 8 5 0 5

7 51 AND 5 1 6 4 0 4
ABOVE

TOTAL 86 64 150 41 14 55
(57.3%) (42.7%) (74.55%) (25.45%)

Table-2
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JOB-WISE DISTRIBUTION
(STUDY GROUP)

S. No JOB NUMBER PERCENTAGE

1 LADY DOCTORS 27 18.00%
2 NURSES 23 15.30%
3 HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS 23 15.30%
4 COLLEGE TEACHERS 15 10.00%
5 UNIVERSITY TEACHERS 12 8.00%
6 BANKERS 17 11.3%
7 OFFICE SECRETARIES 24 16.00%
8 TELEPHONE OPERATORS 9 6.00%
NONE 150

Table-3
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FACILITIES PROVIDED BY THE INSTITUTION

S. No FACILITY NUMBER PERCENTAGE

1 ACCOMMODATION 39 26.00 %
2 TRANSPORT 28 18.67 %
3 MEDICAL 64 42.67 %
4 RECREATIONAL 11 7.33 %
5 EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 8 5.33 %
NONE 78 52.00 %

(NOTE: MULTIPLE ANSWERS WERE RECEIVED)

TABLE-4
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COMPARISON OF EFFECTS OF SHIFT
WORK AND FIXED TIME JOB
(Study group)

S. No NATURE OF JOB TOTAL EFFECTS

(N=150)

a b c d e

1 SHIFT WORK 72 17 11 9 14 21

2 FIXED TIME 78 7 5 6 9 51

TOTAL 150 24 16 15 23 72

a. Efficiency at job decreased

b. Involvement in family matters decreased

c. Personal health deteriorated

d. Meeting with friends made difficult

e. No effect

x2 = 24.1 (P < 0.001)

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TABLE-5

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF ATTITUDE OF

MALE COLLEAGUES

S. No ATTITUDE OF MALE N=150 EFFECTS

COLLEAGUES

a b c d e

1 COOPERATIVE 78 8 - 24 35 13
(52.00%)

2 NON-COOPERATIVE 43 20 6 2 10 5
(28.66%)

3 INDIFFERENT 29 2 2 1 16 8
(19.33%)

TOTAL 150 30 8 (5.33%) 27 61 24

(100%) (20.00%) (18.00%) (40.66% (16.00%)
)

a. Makes you upset.

b. Loose interest in work.

c. No effect.

d. Feel satisfied.

e. Take more interest in work.

x2 = 54.49 (P < 0.001)

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TABLE-6

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF
PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
IN STUDY AND CONTROL GROUPS

S. No GROUP EFFECTS

a b c d e f g

1 STUDY (n=150) 8 6 7 6 5 9 109

2 CONTROL (n=55) 1 0 0 0 2 3 49

a. Hypertension

b. Insomnia

c. Migraine

d. G.I. Disorders

e. Dysmenorrhoea

f. Depression

g. None

t = 7.42 (P < 0.001)