NUMBER AND QUALITY OF ROLES

We used longitudinal personality data to test whether number and quality of roles were associated with health and self-enhancement in 100 privileged midlife women. Number of roles (from the set of partner, parent, and worker) was not related to autonomy, individuality, and complexity, as had been hypothesized, but to respect for norms, being well-organized considering oneselt like other people. Through women with one role were lower in well-being than women with more than one, hierarchical multiple regression showed no advantage to number of roles after psychological health at age 21 was taken in to account. However, quality of role, as assessed by marital satisfaction and status level in work, was associated with contentment and effective functioning, respectively, even after antecedent psychological functioning was taken into account. Particular roles were associated with particular advantages. The enhancement model of the accumulation of roles is compared with Erikson's theory of the development of personality.     

Psychological well-being and homemaker vs. retiree identity among older women

Social roles have been a central focus in both sociological and developmental theories of adjustment in late life. Research on roles and well-being, however, has focused on earlier adulthood or on comparisons of tenuous roles (such as retiree) with institutional roles (such as employee), especially among men. The few studies comparing older women in the tenuous roles of homemaker and retiree all compare single-role women, and show contradictory results. One possibility is that multiple role identities are linked to greater well-being in older women, as they are among younger women. In this paper the life satisfaction, depression, and self-esteem of older women who consider themselves retired only, homemakers only, or both are compared. The sample includes 864 Black (N=242) and White (N=622) women ages 60 and over from a 1986 national survey. Retired women and homemakers did not differ in well-being; women who called themselves both had higher self-esteem and lower depression than single-role women. In analyses exploring what tenuous role content (daily activities) might explain group differences in well-being, do-it-yourself activities and volunteer activities were significant. Age, education, health, and marital status were also important factors. Recommendations include adopting a multiple role perspective with older women and encouraging their participation in instrumental, informal role activities to maximize well-being.Northwestern University     

Multiple Roles and Well-Being: A Study of Mothers of Preschool Age Children

The relation of well-being to involvement in multiple roles was examined in a study of 134 Caucasian women. All subjects were married and mothers of at least one preschool child; 50 were also paid workers. Two indices of well-being were used: (a) self-esteem; and (b) satisfaction with one's current role pattern. No differences in level of well-being were found between the employed and nonemployed groups. Findings were discussed in relation to theoretical perspectives on multiple role involvement.     

Helping or Hovering? The Effects of Helicopter Parenting on College Students’ Well-Being

Parental involvement is related to many positive child outcomes, but if not developmentally appropriate, it can be associated with higher levels of child anxiety and depression. Few studies have examined the effects of over-controlling parenting, or “helicopter parenting,” in college students. Some studies have found that college students of over-controlling parents report feeling less satisfied with family life and have lower levels of psychological well-being. This study examined self-determination theory as the potential underlying mechanism explaining this relationship. College students (N = 297) completed measures of helicopter parenting, autonomy supportive parenting, depression, anxiety, satisfaction with life, and basic psychological needs satisfaction. Students who reported having over-controlling parents reported significantly higher levels of depression and less satisfaction with life. Furthermore, the negative effects of helicopter parenting on college students’ well-being were largely explained by the perceived violation of students’ basic psychological needs for autonomy and competence.     

Gender typing,importance of multiple roles,and mental health consequences for women

The present study examined the interactive influence of gender role typing and multiple role involvement with regard to specific mental health concerns among middle-class Caucasian women. As with previous research, depression and anxiety proved to be a function of gender role typing (feminine-typed and undifferentiated women displayed greater depression and anxiety relative to masculine-typed or androgynous women) with no differences attributable to multiple role involvement. For substance abuse, however, an interaction effect was obtained. Gender-typed (both masculine and feminine) women striving to excel across multiple roles engaged in greater substance abuse than women not gender typed (androgynous and undifferentiated); indeed, the latter displayed low risk comparable to women not similarly striving at multiple roles regardless of gender typing. A similar interaction previously has been reported with regard to disordered eating. These findings suggest that the lack of gender typing for women may enable them to cope more effectively with the conflicting demands of multiple roles and thereby reduce certain health risk behaviors (e.g., disordered eating and substance abuse), but that other mental health concerns (e.g., depression and anxiety) may not be similarly affected.     

Parent Care in the Context of Women's Multiple Roles

This article addresses the multiple roles held by women involved in parent care and the ways in which these roles affect the women's well-being. Research on women's roles (including that of caregiver) has been guided by two opposing perspectives, the scarcity hypothesis and the expansion hypothesis. Findings from our studies of role quality, role combinations, and role spillover have provided abundant evidence that the lives of these women cannot be easilycaptured by either the scarcity or the expansion hypothesis alone.     

Centrality of women's multiple roles: beneficial and detrimental consequences for psychological well-being

Theorists have proposed that greater centrality (personal importance) of a social role is associated with better psychological well-being but that role centrality exacerbates the negative effects of stress in that same social role on well-being. The present study found evidence to support both hypotheses in a sample of 296 women who simultaneously occupied the roles of parent care provider, mother, wife, and employee. Greater centrality of all four roles was related to better psychological well-being. As predicted, wife centrality exacerbated the effects of wife stress on life satisfaction, and employee centrality exacerbated the effects of employee stress on depressive symptoms. Contrary to prediction, centrality of the mother role buffered women from the negative effects of mother stress on depressive symptoms. These findings point to an aspect of role identity that can benefit well-being but that has complex effects in the context of role stress.     

Prosocial behavior increases well-being and vitality even without contact with the beneficiary: Causal and behavioral evidence

A number of studies have shown that prosocial behavior is associated with enhanced well-being, but most prior experimental studies have involved actual or potential face-to-face contact with the beneficiary. To establish that it is prosocial behavior itself, and not only an increased sense of social relatedness to the recipient that improves well-being, participants (n = 76) were invited to play a simple computer game, where half were made aware of a chance to have an anonymous prosocial impact through gameplay. As compared to the control condition, this group experienced more positive affect, meaningfulness and marginally more vitality. Going beyond self-reported outcomes, they also demonstrated better post-game performance on a subsequent Stroop task, providing behavioral evidence for the positive effects of prosocial behavior. Also supported was the hypothesis that these positive effects of prosocial behavior on well-being were mediated by subjectively assessed autonomy and competence need satisfactions.     

Women returning to school: The consequences of multiple roles

Previous research suggests that strain is a predominant consequence of multiple-role incumbency. The likelihood of negative outcomes is increased when the role combination is non-normative. The validity of these assertions is tested for a group of women who have returned to school at midlife, comparing them to a group of their neighbors who are primarily housewives. Findings demonstrate that the students experienced significantly greater positive outcomes or gratifications from their multiple roles than the housewives experienced from their relatively unitary roles. However, the students also reported significantly more negative consequences or strain than did the housewives. Though the students had a net positive gain, the difference was not significant. Moreover, role strain was negatively correlated with high levels of involvement in leisure and volunteer activities for both subsamples. Finally, feminist ideology varied directly with gratification for both students and housewives. The mix of positive and negative corollaries of multiple roles challenges the assumption in the literature that strain is an ubiquitous outcome. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of sexual division of labor and strategies for enhancing net gratification.I am grateful to Judith Long for her assistance in conceptualizing and designing this research. Anne Foner, Peggy A. Thoits, and anonymous reviewers for Sex Roles made numerous helpful comments which strengthened the final version. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Antonio, Texas, August 1984.     

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF MULTIPLE SOCIAL ROLES

This research relies on data from a survey conducted in 1981 to explore the potential negative and positive consequences of having multiple roles. The responses of 500 employed women to questions about self-esteem, satisfaction with careers, partners, and children, and perceptions of life stress and pleasure were examined. The number of roles held by respondents ranged from 1 to 5 (worker, partner, parent, volunteer, and student). The results indicated that higher self-esteem and greater job satisfaction were associated with holding more roles. However, neither marital nor parental satisfaction was consistently related to the number of roles held. Although the majority of working women reported their lives to be stressful, this finding was independent of the number of roles held, and women with more roles did not consistently report a greater number of stressful life domains. These findings suggest that, for employed women, having multiple roes may enhance psychological well-being.     

Changes in Feeling States Following Aquatic Exercise During Pregnancy

Forty-four pregnant women participated in water aerobics 2 times per week for a period of 6 weeks, with each session lasting approximately 45 min. The hypothesis that participants would report greater feelings of positive well-being and less psychological distress and fatigue during the 6-week program as compared to preprogram reports was supported. Also supporting our hypothesis, similar improvements were noted following a single bout of exercise during each week of the program. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that regular engagement in an aquatic exercise program is associated with improvements in positive feeling states and reductions in negative feeling states and fatigue for women during pregnancy.     

Religious coping,stigma, and psychological functioning among HIV-positive African American women

The present study examined the role of religious coping in psychological distress and adjustment both cross-sectionally and longitudinally among 141 HIV-positive African American women. Cross-sectional analyses showed that negative religious coping was associated with poorer mental health and functioning, and greater perceptions of stigma and discrimination. Longitudinal analyses revealed that greater negative religious coping at baseline significantly predicted greater changes in mental health in a negative direction 12 months later. Positive religious coping was not associated with any measures of psychological well-being, nor did it predict any mental health outcomes at 12 months. However, participants who experienced high levels of HIV-related stigma and reported high levels of positive religious coping were less depressed than those who reported lower levels of positive religious coping. These results suggest that for this population, negative religious coping was a more salient determinant of psychological distress than positive religious coping was of psychological health.     

THE IMPACT OF CHILDCARE RESPONSIBILITY AND SELF-EFFICACY ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH OF PROFESSIONAL WORKING MOTHERS

This study examined how childcare responsibility and self-efficacy to manage multiple role demands related to the psychological well-being and distress of 42 full-time professional women one month after they returned to their jobs after the birth of their first child. The results showed that greater childcare responsibility is associated with lower well-being and greater psychological distress. As predicted, perceived self-efficacy to cope with demands of occupational and familial roles appeared to mediate this relationship. A woman's belief in her capability to enlist the help of her spouse for childcare was the most consistent predictor of both well-being and distress.     

Social roles as mechanisms for psychological need satisfaction within social groups.

The authors explored ways in which needs for autonomy and relatedness can be simultaneously met within the context of group life. Specifically, it was hypothesized that social role performances provide means of both expressing the self and connecting with group members. Consistent with the assumption that autonomy and relatedness are complementary rather than conflictual, these needs were positively correlated in all 5 studies. Consistent with the authors' assumption that these needs are both important, feelings of autonomy and relatedness in social roles independently predicted subjective well-being, as measured by concurrent (Studies I and 3), peer-report (Study 2). and longitudinal (Studies 4 and 5) methodologies. Study 5 showed that participants whose characteristics matched an assigned role experienced more autonomy and relatedness and thus more positive mood during a group task. Implications for optimal functioning in group contexts are discussed.     

The relationship between psychological well- and ill-being,and perceived autonomy supportive and controlling interpersonal styles: A longitudinal study of sport coaches

The present study longitudinally explored sports coaches' psychological well-being (positive affect and integration of coaching with one's sense of self) and ill-being (negative affect and devaluation of coaching) as predictors of their perceived autonomy supportive and controlling interpersonal styles towards individuals under their instruction. Participants were 195 sport coaches who completed questionnaire measures at three time points across an eleven-month period. Controlling for social desirability, multilevel analyses revealed that within-person increases and individual differences in positive affect and integration were positively associated with autonomy support. Conversely, within-person increases and individual differences in negative affect, but not devaluation, were associated with increased use of interpersonal control. The indicators of well-being did not predict interpersonal control and the indicators of ill-being did not predict autonomy support. In their entirety, the present findings suggest that autonomy supportive and controlling interpersonal styles have unique correlates, and affective determinants may play a particularly central role in controlling interpersonal styles. Supporting the psychological health of coaches may lead them to create an adaptive interpersonal environment for their athletes.     

LINKAGES BETWEEN WOMEN'S PROVIDER-ROLE ATTITUDES, PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING, AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

The primary aim of this investigation was to examine the extent to which the meanings women attach to their provider-role responsibilities are differentially related to their psychological well-being and family relationships and to the division of labor in the home. The sample included 43 dualearner and 50 single-earner families. In home interviews, wives reported on role overload, depression, satisfaction with the marriage, and attitudes regarding women's and men's roles. Their children completed two measures assessing daily hassles and their relationship with their mother. Reports of daily involvement in household work were obtained from wives and husbands during four telephone interviews. Discriminant function analyses indicated that aspects of women's psychological well-being and marital and parent-child relationships and of the division of labor discriminated women in four different provider groups: maidsecondary providers, ambivalent coproviders, coproviders, and homemakers. Wives who were ambivalent about their provider responsibilities tended to report higher levels of depression and overload and significantly lower marital satisfaction. Wives who saw their employment as secondary to that of their husbands reported relatively higher levels of depression and overload but also the highest levels of marital satisfaction.     

Lay Understanding of Happiness and the Experience of Well-Being: Are Some Conceptions of Happiness More Beneficial than Others?

The aim of the study was to understand aspects of life that men and women associate with happiness and to explore the connections between these associations and well-being (measured as positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction) in different periods of life. Participants were 785 people who were asked to list associations that came to mind on hearing the word ‘happiness’. The moderating roles of gender and period of life (adolescence/adulthood, transition/no transition) were analysed. Participants associated happiness mostly with health and relationships. Other categories included knowledge, work, material goods and freedom. Those who associated happiness with work had higher levels of positive affect. Associating happiness with relationships predicted greater life satisfaction, whereas associating it with material goods predicted lower satisfaction. Gender moderated the relationship between associations and positive affect: associating happiness with material goods decreased positive affect among men but no such effect was observed among women; associating happiness with relationships was beneficial for women but unbeneficial for men. Additionally, associations with material goods predicted lower positive affect, especially in times of transition. Associating happiness with knowledge decreased positive affect in adolescents and increased it in adults. Some ways of understanding happiness improved life satisfaction but none were related to negative affect. The relationship between concepts of happiness and positive affect is complex; some concepts are unbeneficial only for some people and during certain periods of life.     

THE IMPACT OF ROLE STRESSORS AND PERSONAL RESOURCES ON THE STRESS EXPERIENCE OF PROFESSIONAL WOMEN

This study explored the contributions of role stressors and personal resources in predicting strain symptoms experienced by 117 professional women employed full-time in academia. Results of multiple regression analyses revealed that, while role stressors alone accounted for only a moderate amount of the variance in reported strain symptoms, 51 % of the variance was explained when both stressors and personal resources were combined. Womend, who experienced higher levels of personal control and social support as well as a greater number of roles occupied reported lower levels of strain symptoms. These results support the use of a transactional model of stress in future multiple role research.     

Emotional autonomy and adjustment among emerging adults: The moderating role of family relationships

Emerging adults build their personal maturity within the family context; however, few studies focus on the role of emotional autonomy during this stage. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between emotional autonomy and adjustment during emerging adulthood, bearing in mind the possible moderating role of parental support in this relationship. Data were collected from 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students (903 women) aged between 18 and 29. Participants completed measures of emotional autonomy (EAS, Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986), family social support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988), psychological well-being (PWBS; Ryff, Lee, Essex & Schmutte, 1995) and psychological distress (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The results indicate that emotional autonomy correlates negatively with family support and psychological well-being and positively with psychological distress. However, only when young people perceive a family context with low social support is gaining emotional distance from their parents associated with an increase in their psychological well-being. Our findings highlight the crucial role that the family environment plays in well-being during young adulthood, and reveal that the effect of emotional distancing from parents on adjustment depends on the quality of the family climate. Future research should seek to gain greater insight into emotional autonomy during emerging adulthood, taking into account cross-cultural diversity.     

PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF AGE AND LIFE ROLES IN ADULT WOMEN

The association between age/family stage, career role, and personality traits was studied using a multivariate statistical approach. Young adult, midlife, and older women from four role groups—homemaker, married career, single career, and student—were compared on a number of personality measures including achievement motivation, affiliation, autonomy, cultural sex role characteristics, self esteem, and adjustment. While some of the expected group differences did not appear, some significant age and role differences were found. Older women showed less achievement motivation and had a greater need for affiliation than young adult and midlife women. Career women had a more internalized locus of control than homemakers and students. When age and role were considered together, the age-role groups were differentiated on autonomy, femininity, and adjustment. There were no differences between either age or role groups on measures of self-esteem, well-being, socialization, or other personality variables.