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A comparative study of anxiety level of working and non-working mothers

Author: Panda, Satyananda; Chettri, Tika Maya

Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to see the existence of anxiety and compare anxiety level among working and non-working mothers. In the present context, there is an ample need to study anxiety in traditional socio-cultural Sikkim's family context, the effect of working condition of mothers in comparison with non-working condition. The employment typically has positive psychological consequences for mothers either as a primary source of well-being or as a buffer against stress. Purposive sampling method was used for this study. Sample consisted of 50 graduate nurses (Working mothers) and 50 graduate housewives (non-working mothers). State-Trait Anxiety Test (STAT) developed by Vohra was used to assess the level of state and trait anxiety among working and non-working mothers. Participants' scores were evaluated and analyzed and it was found that there is high level of anxiety (both state and trait) among working and non-working mothers. However, there exists no significant differences in anxiety level between working and non-working mothers (P < 0.05). It is high time that we realize that there is necessity of making work environment less stressful and more comfortable.

Headnote

Keywords: working mothers, non-working mothers, housewives, anxiety, nurses

The role of women in the society is constantly questioned and for centuries, women have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. First of all, it is clear that a woman's place, just like a man's is in the home. Women have started to reach the highest places and to occupy the scariest and most exciting positions of power within society. At the same time, they have continued to stay home and have children. It is really a matter of individual choice. Women's place should not be in the home because they have much more to offer society. Woman now believes that a successful career is the key to financial and social life. Obviously, the lives women live today are much different than they were before. Today, there are several roles women may choose to fulfill/carry out. Today, most of the mothers are working. They are expanding their lives to include a career; they must also maintain their traditional roles at home. This combination of housework and career-work is the reason why working mothers today have more stress than working fathers (Hoffman, 1986).

Beck et al. (1961) conducted a study on the mental health and anxiety among working and non-working mothers and found that working mothers had better mental health and reported less anxiety than the non-working mothers. The most frequently reported source of stress for working mothers was not having enough time to do everything, whereas for non-working mothers, lack of social life was a major stressor.

Another research suggests that mothers who are in situations where there is conflict in the roles they play (work outside the home and the traditional role of housewife) would experience certain anxiety, that they would feel less satisfaction in their role of wife-mother, and that they would not feel capable of fulfilling themselves in either of these roles. It had also been predicted that women who attached relatively little importance to the traditional role of wife-mother would experience no more difficulty in their full-time role outside the home than do those women who devote themselves entirely to the traditional feminine role. However, there was little or no difference between the two groups (Siegel & Haas, 1963).

Kessler and Mac Rae (1982) in their study and found that the factors such as financial situation, children's age, work availability, work passion, partner's support and health all plays role in the decision to be working mom or stay-at-home mom. Non-working mothers are concerned with their domestic filed and has less scope to deal with external stress situation. Their single role creates less pressure in their life and situation and hence state anxiety is less prominent in them than in the case of working mothers. This finding is supported by the study of Hoffman (1986); Kessler and MacRae (1982). Moreover, they found that in general, both state and trait anxieties were prominent in case of working mothers than in that of the non-working mothers.

Barnett and Baruch (1985) examined women's involvement in multiple roles in relation to three stress indices: role overload, role conflict and anxiety. They analysed the effects of number of roles occupied, (occupancy of the particular roles of paid) occupancy of the particular roles of paid worker, wife and mother, and the quality of a woman's experience in her roles. For the occupancy of role of mother was related to two stress indices; occupancy of the role of paid worker was related to none. Role conflict and role overload were strongly related to anxiety only among unemployed subjects. The quality of experience in the work and in parental role was a significant predictor of role overload. Quality of parental role experience was a significant predictor of role conflict and of anxiety.

Lennon (1994) studied and found that fulltime housework involves more autonomy, more interruptions, greater physical efforts, more routine, fewer time pressures and less responsibility for matters outside one's control than paid work. Since, large number of non-professional women works not by choice as compared to the professionally employed women, (Chaudhary, 1995). This reflects their lower motivation and confidence which in terms in turn is indicator of low life satisfaction and higher level of anxiety.

In a comparison of working and non-working mothers, studies showed a positive statistically significant relationship with anxiety score. Traditional role theories suggest that women who are trying to maintain several roles would be expected to experience negative stressful feelings (Mukhopadhyay, 1996). It has been concluded by various studies that women (whether working or non-working) cope with anxiety in a physiologically more economical way but at a higher psychological cost. This feeling creates a number of physical and psychological problems for them.

In another study, it was shown that females those who are working and married, are low on anxiety with higher life satisfaction in comparison to the non-working married females. They perceived their life as challenging and secure. Whereas, the non-working married females are less satisfied with their lives and their anxiety level is higher than the anxiety level of working females (Panwar et ah, 2012).

Anxiety is one of the most common psychological problems in women especially among working women/mothers. Nowadays, women are involved professionally in different fields such as business, government and private services, academic institutions, industrial or organizational institutions and many more. Due to the increasing demand of labor in professional services, women are also actively involved and dedicated towards their work to serve their families and earn some income as well as self-respect and for the purpose of having life satisfaction. Not only this, they are serving and fulfilling the household works and necessities with full dedication. All these duties that must be taken care of are believed to cause working mothers more stress; this can be clarified through research.A lack in the performance of working mother's duty could make her apprehensive, worried, or anxious which could affect her productivity both in home and in work. The non-working mother's duties do not measure up to what the working mother does. In the present context, there is an ample need to study particularly in traditional socio-cultural Sikkim's family context, the effect of working condition of mothers in comparison with non-working condition.

At this juncture, the present study aims to compare the state and trait anxiety level between working and non-working mothers.

Hypotheses of the study

Based upon the above objective and related literatures, thefollowing hypotheses can beformulated:

* There would be a significant difference between working and nonworking mothers on state anxiety.

* There would be a significant difference between working and nonworking mothers on trait anxiety.

Method

Participants

In the present research, sample was drawn from the population of government service working and non-working mothers (government graduate nurses and graduate housewives respectively) from urban areas of Sikkim by using Purposive Sampling technique. The total sample size taken for the study was 100. Out of 100, 50 samples constituted of working mothers and 50 constituted of non-working mothers.

Inclusion criteria:

* Working and non-working mothers with one or two children.

* Educational qualification of the participants is graduate or higher.

* The nature of service of working mothers is regular.

* Working and non-working mothers living with their spouse.

* Non-working mothers who are housewives.

* Group B working mothers in the health department of Government of Sikkim

Study Area: East and South Sikkim.

Instrument

State-Trait Anxiety' Test (Vohra, 2001): State-Trait Anxiety Test is a brief and non-stressful test applicable to all and is appropriate for use in chronological ages of fourteen years and above, and throughout adulthood. It is based upon the MAP series which measures twenty personality dimensions. The test includes forty items which can be rated with three possible answers according to different situational responses. There are nothing correct answers as such. The responses would not be based on one's opinion. There are total five dimensions: Tension, Guilt proneness, Maturity, Suspiciousness and Lack of Self-Control.

Procedure

The concerned authorities in the Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial Hospital, Gangtok (East Sikkim) and Namchi District Hospital (South Sikkim) were contacted for permission to collect data from the respondents. The consent was obtained from the respondents and they were briefly explained the purpose of the research as well as the details such as the instructions of the scale used. After taking their permission and consent, good rapport was established with the respondents. Specific instructions for the scale were given to the respondents. All the participants were assured that their responses would be kept confidential and if they face any difficulty in understanding the question, they may ask immediately to the researcher and clarify their doubts without any hesitation. The participants provided their responses pertaining to State-Trait Anxiety. Data was collected individually from the concerned respondents along with the socio-demographic data.

The independent t-test analysis was used to test the significant differences among the working and non-working mothers on state and trait anxiety. The quantization data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22. Descriptive Statistics like Mean, Standard Deviation, and t-value were also analyzed. This process of deriving statistical results would lead to the interpretation and drawing of conclusions.

Results and discussion

The raw obtained second and analzed, The following the results obtained after analysing the data:

From Graph 1 and Table 1, it can be observed that the mean score of the state anxiety of working mothers is 20.38 and SD is 6.78 and the mean score for the state anxiety is 19.38 and SD is 6.26. The tvalue for the State anxiety is .77 which is also not significant at 0.05 level. The results also suggest that both working as well as non-working mothers are showing marked state anxiety. Thus, the hypothesis 1 which states that there would be a significant difference between working and non-working mothers on state anxiety in not accepted.

From Graph 2 and Table 2, it can be observed that the mean score of trait anxiety of working mothers is 16.32 with SD 5.43 and mean score oftrait anxiety ofnon-working mothers is 18.12andSDis 6.19. The t-value for the trait anxiety score is -. 15 which according to the ttable is not significant at 0.05 levels. Thus, the hypothesis 2 which states that there would be a significant difference between working and non-working mothers on trait anxiety in not accepted.

Fiowever, as it can be observed in both graph 2 and Table 2 that non-working mothers have higher trait anxiety mean score (18.12) than the working mothers (16.32). The results also suggest that both working as well as non-working mothers are showing marked trait anxiety. Therefore, the hypothesis 1 which states that there would be high level of anxiety among working mothers than the non-working mothers is not accepted.

Conclusion

Though the findings indicated that there are no significant differences in both state and traitanxiety among working and nonworking mother, but the mean scores show that working mothers have more mean state anxiety than non-working mothers and nonworking mothers have more trait anxiety than working mothers. It was also concluded that anxiety results due to the workload of the working mother though anxiety vary from individual to individual regardless of their status. In case of working mothers, there is too much stress and anxiety both in their personal as well as professional life. Fiowever, further research can be conducted in future by taking a large sample and by covering more variables so that the results and findings can be more reliable and valid.

Suggestions for working mothers

Working mothers regardless of their age, all experience one form of problem or the other ranging from their stress levels and anxiety.

* Working mothers should be aware to take good care of their mental and physical health and they should always take a break to get enough rest. Out of their tight schedules, they should create more time for leisure or recreational activities or hobbies like reading, walking, listening to music or sports and any other adventures.

* Sleep helps the body repair itself; it improves the cognitive processes and generally makes a person feel better. So, a good and sound sleep is a must for everyone.

* They should follow stress management practices to keep themselves on track and these practices can be taken from any psychology consultant.

* If working mothers should adhere to these recommendations, it would also be beneficial to them if they could reduce some demands their occupation places on them. They should learn to take breaks as mentioned above.

* Spouses of working mothers should not get over involved in their (the spouses) jobs so that they (the spouses) can assist in child rearing and also serve as extra help in household chores. They should relieve their wife of excessive workload which reduces stress, anxiety and also increases (in some cases) their life satisfaction. It is believed that if the working mother, her spouse and the organisation she works with will follow the above mentioned recommendations then the working mother would be a more relaxed, contented and healthy person.

Suggestions for non-working mothers

Non-working mothers are basically known as "housewives" or in more polite words also called as "home-makers". They have to manage only their family and household as compared to their counterparts. Basic suggestions may be given to them to handle unnecessary anxiety through these techniques.

* Since the non-working mothers are well-educated but unemployed, they become frustrated and are unable to handle unnecessary stress and anxiety. They must learn to relax themselves and practice stress- management techniques, yoga and meditation.

* They can be taught to engage themselves in hobbies and other interesting pastimes and creativity related work so that they become busy and stress-free and reduce their anxiety level.

* They can be encouraged to learn new and interesting tilings rather than doing monotonous work at home.

References

References

Beck, A.T, Ward, C.H., Mendelson, M.; Mock, J.E., & Erbaugh, J.K. (1961). Arch Inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4(1), 561-571.

Chaudhary, M. (1995). A study of marital adjustment, role conflict, fear of success and well-being and life stress amongst working and non-working married women. Unpublished PhD thesis,Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.

Hoffman, L.W. (1986). Work, family and the children. In Psychology and Work, Ed. M. S. Pallak & R. O. Perloss, pp. 169-220. Washington D.C: American Psychological Association.

Kessler, R.C., & MacRae, J. A. (1982). The asset of wives' employment on the mental health of married men and women. American Journal of Sociology, 4 7( 1 ), 216-226.

Lennon, M. C. (1994). Women, Work and well-Being: The importance of work conditions. Journal of Health & Social Behaviour ,35(3), 235-47.

Mukhopadhyay, S. (1996). Anxiety Level and its Temporal Change among Working Mothers in Calcutta. The Journal of Social Psychology, 136(f), 123-125.

Panwar, N., Ufan, M., Kaur, N., &Thind, H. S. (2012). Acomparative study of working and non-working married women: Effect of anxiety level on life satisfaction. Indian Journal of Psychology and Mental Health, 6(2), 169-178.

Siegel, A. E.; &Haas,M. B. (1963). The working mother: A review of research. Society for Research in Child Development, 34 (3), 513-542.

Vohra, S. (2001). Manualfor State-Trait Anxiety Test (STAT). Psy. Com Sendees. New Delhi, India.

AuthorAffiliation

Satyananda Panda and Tika Maya Chettri

Department of Psychology, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim

Correspondence should be sent to Dr. Satyananda Panda

Department of Psychology, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim

E-mail: [email protected]