Comparative Study Between Working and Non-Working Women in Relation to Life Satisfaction and Stress

International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 409 Comparative Study Between Working and Non-Working Women in Relation to Life Satisfaction and Stress Dr. Ajit B. Chandanshive Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Chandmal Tarachand Bora College of Arts, Commerce and Science Shirur (Ghodnadi) Dist-Pune 412210. [email protected] Abstract: Using a survey of 100 Females (50 Employed and 50 Unemployed), this study aimed to understand “Life Satisfaction and Stress” among employed and unemployed females. The research was done on employed and unemployed females who were from the age group 25-50. This study was an attempt to find out and understand which population of women in the society, i.e., is it the females who are working or is it the females who are not-working that experienced satisfaction with life as well as stress more. To measure the Life Satisfaction among women, SWLS i.e., Satisfaction with Life Scale by (Diener, 1985) and for measuring Stress among working and non-working women, PSS i.e., Perceived Stress Scale by (Cohen,1983) were used. Mean, SD, “t” test was used for statistical analysis. The research concluded a difference which was Significant among employed and unemployed females with regards to Satisfaction with life. Also, difference that was significant was found among employed and unemployed females with regards to Stress. Also, employed females experienced greater Satisfaction in Life than unemployed females. It was observed that non-working females experienced greater Stress in comparison to employed females. Keywords: Working Women, NonWorking Women, Life Satisfaction, Stress Introduction Stress has become an unavoidable phenomenon among people in these modern times and found among people belonging to all the ages and walks of life. It usually becomes difficult to quantify and claim a particular criterion to everyone as the intensity, the depth and aspects of looking at stress changes from individual to individual. But having said that there are now measures to understand and know and measure the phenomena of stress in people’s lives International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 410 (Anasuya J. Akbari, 2012). Stress can be mental, physical as well as an emotional response towards a particular or a specific event. Many researchers also consider it as a “Coping Strategy” that helps an individual by preparing himself or herself against all the challenging odds of life. As per studies, stress can be “Positive or Negative” depending upon how the person perceives the situation (Rupa Mishra, Arvind Mehra, 2019). In these changing times and era where there is almost always a cut throat competition in every field and every sector of life stress has become an integral part of the people’s lives. Right from school going children till working population almost every individual these days experience stress on very frequent basis. Hans Selye was the first person to talk about stress dating back to 1936 (S Anithalaxmi, K.C. Bindhu,2022). Stress can have physiological as well as psychological impact on a person’s health and wellbeing. Although stress is a common phenomenon and a very natural response to any situation which is stressful. But having said that excessive amounts of stress can be really very detrimental and hazardous to a person’s wellbeing. In modern times, people are stressed because of excessive work pressure, overwork, insecurities, the pace of life etc. unlike the peaceful old days where the demands of the people from lives were less because of which lives of people were less complicated and people would find peace in small situations. It wasn’t that olden times were only peaceful and no stress existed but the amount of stress was less as compared to that of these modern times because today’s world is more materialistic and that’s what defines one’s status in the society. (Kumar, 2017). Traditionally women in India have been only confined towards working in homes and engaging in traditional household caretaking, caring for families and children. But as the “Pendulum of the Time swung” women started to work outside of their houses in industries, various professional job sectors earning for themselves “Respected Living”. These changing times, we see a rapid transition where both Males and Females are equally contributing to the economies also called as “Dual-Carrer Families (S. K. Singh, 2014). Working women are those women who are found to be working outside of their homes i.e., in industries, factories, educational institutes, nursing, administration, courts etc. and who earn a living for themselves as well as for their families (Kumar,2017). It has been found in the literature about females experiencing higher stress as opposed to males. It might contain a relation with the number of duties women have to follow as compared to men. From a typical Indian scenario, women still have to juggle with different roles in the family as well as in the society. A working woman before leaving for work has to do her duties or chores for the family, her children etc. and then her work International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 411 outside the family i.e., in the professional world starts. But women have successfully managed to fulfill all their duties with flying colors be it related to households, families or be it their professional responsibilities. However, despite of successful balance has been achieved by women still these multiple roles do create strain and stress in their lives (Sinha,2017 Unemployed -females are those who are not engaged into any professional duties outside of the house but one who takes care of one’s own house, family and manages the household duties. However, the term non-working in the case of women only is limited to the fact that the women as mentioned earlier do not engage in working outside of the family, but in real sense as per traditional Indian traditions women are always working in every sense (Bisma Farooq Sheikh,2021). Satisfaction is a mindful state. This state can also be defined as a state of “Containment”. Recently some prominent synonyms for satisfaction are “Subjective well-being and Happiness” (S. K. Singh, 2014). The word satisfaction brings in front of our eyes a picture of a blissful state wherein a person experiences the sense of “completeness” or “wholeness”. This perspective however is dependent on many factors such as the life the person had, the situations the person had in life, the experiences the person had in his or her life etc. makes a person either satisfied or dissatisfied in life. In other words, satisfaction can be understood as “a pleasant feeling that you get when you receive something, you wanted or when you achieve something that you wanted (Cambridge Dictionary). Satisfaction with one’s life is the satisfaction that a person experiences about one’s own life. Life satisfaction can be defined as “the extent to which one finds life to be rich, meaningful, full or of high quality (APA Dictionary). Also, life satisfaction can be defined as an individual’s global assessment of his or her life in positive terms (Diener,et al,1985). Satisfaction is equally important in every person’s life be the person a child, an adult, senior citizen etc. Satisfaction also depends from person to person and from situation to situation. Life Satisfaction is something which is achieved and sources of achieving or extracting it can differ from person to person. For example, some people find Satisfaction from working or engaging oneself in some duties, work etc. some people try to find one’s satisfaction by spending quality times with their family and loved one’s. Hence the sources from where one tries to gain satisfaction differs and is very subjective in nature. Hence this study will focus on understanding “life Satisfaction and Stress” between Employed and Non-Employed females in Mumbai. Since the study is a Comparative study, it will clearly International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 412 be indicating to us which among the sectors of females i.e., employed, or non-employed experience more satisfaction and stress in life as compared to the other. Review of Literature Singh (2014) did research about Life Satisfaction and Stress Level between Employed and NonEmployed Females. Research was done on 200 females (100 Employed and 100 UnEmployed Females), it was found that satisfaction with life to be more on employed females as opposed to females who were working. And, females who were not working had most stress as opposed to females who were working. Akbari (2012) researched regarding Satisfaction about life as well as Stress between employed and unemployed females. Research was conducted on 160 women (80 Employed and 80 unemployed females). Results of research concluded about Life Satisfaction being more among Employed Women as opposed to Un-Employed females. Further it was also observed that Stress was concluded to be more in females who were working as opposed to females who were not working. Kumar (2023) did a Review Article on Life Satisfaction and Level of Stress on females who were employed and unemployed. The research was done among 200 females (100 Employed females as well as 100 Unemployed females). Research concluded that females who were working were having high Life Satisfaction in comparison to females who were Not-Working, also it concluded that females who were not working had greater Stress than females who were working. Chaudhary (2019) did research on Life Satisfaction as well as on Stress between Women as well as housewives. This research was done on 80 females both working and housewives between the age group of 25 to 40. The research revealed that satisfaction with life being more between working females as compared to housewives. And stress was found to be better among women who are housewives. International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 413 Significance of the Study: 1. The study is significant as it focuses on current ongoing issue prevailing in the society. 2. Since the times are now changing and Women are professionally working outside of their houses in various professional sectors in order to earn a living and contribute to their families, through this study it will be easy to understand whether this section of working women experience stress or life satisfaction either. 3. Since the times have changed but still there are women who are not professionally working outside of their houses in a professional sector but are working in their own houses and managing their houses on a full-time basis. Through this study it will be interesting to see if this section of women who are termed as “non-Working” experience life satisfaction and stress to what extent. 4. Since this is a comparative study aiming at measuring life satisfaction and stress among women by categorizing women as working and non-working, it will further become easy to understand as to which category of women experience life satisfaction and stress more as compared to the other. 5. Since this study measures satisfaction associated with life as well as stress between females especially who are working and non-working, it will give us a concrete understanding as to which section experiences life satisfaction and stress more. This will prevent labelling that women in general experience life satisfaction and stress and will give out a concrete result. Statement of the Problem: To study the comparison between Employed and Unemployed females in association with understanding Life satisfaction and Stress. Objectives of the Study: 1. To study the Life Satisfaction among employed and employed females in Mumbai. 2. To study the prevalence of Stress among employed and employed females in Mumbai. The Hypotheses of the Study: 1. There will be a significant difference between employed and employed females with regards to Satisfaction with Life International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 414 2. There will be a significant difference among employed and employed females with regards to Stress. Method: Variables of the Study: Independent Variable: Women a. Employed Females b. Unemployed Females Dependent Variable: 1. Life Satisfaction 2. Stress Operational definitions: Life Satisfaction: As per the definition given by APA, the way in which an individual sees life as abundant, important, or excellent. Measured by SWLS i.e., Satisfaction with Life Scale. Developed by Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J., & Griffin, S. (1985) Stress: As per APA, the physiological or psychological response to internal or external stressor. Measured by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS 10). Developed by Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. (1988). Employed Females: Women who are engaged in working outside their homes i.e., in any professional set up and those who also earn an income. Unemployed Females: Females that are not working but who take care of their homes and family. Research Design of the Study: Comparative Research Design. Statistical Analyses: In the Current research Mean, SDs, t-test were done for statistical analysis of the data. International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 415 Sample: In this study 100 Women were taken (50 women being employed and 50 women being unemployed). Females ranging from 25 to 50 were taken up for the research. “Purposive Sampling” method was used. Procedure: To understand the Life Satisfaction and Stress among employed and unemployed females, above-mentioned Scales i.e., for measuring life satisfaction, SWLS i.e., Satisfaction with Life Scale were used. For measuring Stress among employed and unemployed females, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were administered. The research was done on 100 employed and unemployed females who were from 25 to 50 years of age. Tools for the Study: 1. Life Satisfaction: For measuring the Life Satisfaction between employed and unemployed females, Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) developed by Diener et. al (1985) was used. This test consists of 5 items used to understand life satisfaction among people. Here respondents answer on a 7 -Point rating options which range from 1(Strongly Disagree) to 7(Strongly Agree). Scores are derived by summing all answers. The Max Score of the test is 35 and Min Score is 5. The developers of the scale are Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J., & Griffin, S. 2. Stress: For measuring Stress employed and unemployed females, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) by Cohen et al was used. This test consists of 10 items used to measure Stress. Here respondents answer on 5Point of rating, ranging from 0(Never) to 4(Very Often). This test consists of Items which are Negative (4,5,7,8) hence were reversed scored. Scores are derived after summing up all answers. Max possible score for this test is 40 as well as Min possible score for this scale is 0. Results and Discussions: The motive of the research was to understand “Life Satisfaction and Stress” between “Working and Non-Working” females. To analyze data, “t”-test was done. Results and Discussions for the same are below. International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 416 T-Test (Table-1: Mean, SDs of Employed and Unemployed Females on Life Satisfaction.) Results from the above Table-1, As per the table, the mean score of females who are working on life satisfaction is 29.32 and mean score of females who are not working is 14.72, according to both the mean scores, it could be seen that mean score of employed females on life satisfaction is more opposed to unemployed females. The SD score for employed females was 5.03 also, SD for unemployed females were 4.53. So, from this we can say “Working” Females experience greater Satisfaction when it comes to life as opposed to “Non-Working’ ’Females. Hence, it can be concluded that there exists a difference which is significant among “Working and Non-Working” Females which is supportive of the proposed hypotheses which states that “there will be a significant difference among Working and NonWorking Women on Life Satisfaction”. The results were significant at<.001 level of significance. Employed Females experienced greater satisfaction in their lives than Unemployed Females maybe because of fact that they are “Independent” in every sense and they experience this independence not only financially by supporting their families but also, they experience as sense of independence in their thought processes as well. Working Women are financially independent plus they contribute to their families which is an example of change in the reputation of females especially in India. In case for “NonWorking’’ Females, from above results, it seen they are less satisfied is life as compared employed females. Table 2: (Significance Level of employed and unemployed Females for Life Satisfaction.) International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 10 Issue 07 July 2023 Received: 4 July 2023 Revised: 22 July 2023 Accepted: 30 July 2023 Copyright © authors 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17342753 417 Figure 1: Histogram for Employed Females for Life Satisfaction). Figure 2: Histogram for Life Satisfaction of Unemployed Females.