The nature of work and the stress of higher status.

Academic Article

Abstract

  • Are occupational and work conditions associated with work-to-home conflict? If so, do those associations vary by gender? Among a sample of adults in Toronto, Canada, we found that men and women in higher-status occupations reported higher levels of work-to-home conflict than workers in lower-status jobs. In addition, we observed higher levels of work-to-home conflict among workers who are self-employed and among those with more job authority, demands, involvement, and longer hours. The only significant gender-contingent effect was found for nonroutine work, which is associated positively with work-to-home conflict among men but not women. Higher levels of job demands, involvement, and hours among individuals in higher-status occupations significantly contribute to occupation-based differences in work-to-home conflict. Moreover, despite some overlap, these work conditions have largely independent associations with work-to-home conflict. Results generally support the "stress of higher status " hypothesis among both women and men. Although higher-status positions yield many rewards, such positions are not impervious to inter-role stress, and this stress may offset those rewards.
  • Authors

  • Schieman, Scott
  • Whitestone, Yuko Kurashina
  • Van Gundy, Karen
  • Status

    Publication Date

  • September 2006
  • Published In

    Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Data Collection
  • Employment
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Ontario
  • Social Class
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Digital Object Identifier (doi)

    Pubmed Id

  • 17066775
  • Start Page

  • 242
  • End Page

  • 257
  • Volume

  • 47
  • Issue

  • 3