Work and Well-Being: Gender Differences in the Psychological Consequences of Employment

Differential exposure and vulnerability to social roles and role characteristics have been suggested as accounts for gender differences in well-being. This paper proposes a refinement of these models that incorporates the indirect effect of roles through intervening social and psychological resources. These reformulated models provide the framework for an analysis of gender differences in the psychological consequences of work that estimates the direct and indirect effects of two job conditions, control and complexity, on two dimensions of well-being. Results reveal patterns of differential exposure, but also suggest some gender differences in the intervening variables through which work conditions influence well-being. These differences occur primarily in the proximate effects of self-esteem and social integration on distress and happiness.