Sex Differences in Distress: The Impact of Gender and Work Roles

Investigators have suggested that social roles, particularly gender roles, may explain the tendency for women to have higher rates of demoralization than men. Results of studies comparing employed women, employed men, and housewives have been mixed, however, and investigators have begun to consider additional explanatory factors. This paper focuses on a potential source of gender differences in distress that has received relatively little attention: the workplace itself. I consider the extent to which work conditions and the sexual segregation of occupations are related to two measures of distress: demoralization, which is more prevalent among women, and drinking, which is more prevalent among men. Multiple regression analyses indicate that the only work-related factors associated with demoralization are substantive complexity and full-time work, and these have an effect among women only. Full-time work and low levels of complexity are associated wiMh higher levels of demoralization among women. Substantive complexity is also associated with drinking, but only among men; as complexity declines, levels of drinking increase. These findings indicate the importance of considering work-related factors and measures of distress associated differentially with gender when investigating gender differences in distress.