Universitat Jaume I - UJI - Castello

Contrary to popular belief, men and women are equally affected by family support in their daily work and the conflicts between private and professional life. However, women usually find more support and social chances when trying to reconciliate work and family life. This is one of the conclusions of the study on psychosocial risks for men and women at work developed by the research team WoNT (Work and Organizational Network) from Universitat Jaume I. The study establishes important differences between men and women on how they perceive and are affected by different psychosocial factors at work.

The Spanish legislation on occupational risks prevention contemplates the need to consider the sex of workers in assessment and intervention on psychosocial factors at work. And, in fact, sexual differences are important, as the lecturer of Social Psychology Eva Cifre explains. The study concludes that women are more affected than men by routine: ‘women experience more burnout with a monotonous work, and are more affected by the lack of autonomy and social support’. However, there are also similarities. Men and women are almost equally influenced by work overload; role ambiguity (that is, not knowing exactly what is expected of them); mobbing; the lack of mental competence to perform their work and work-family conflict. The researcher points out that the latter is ‘particularly interesting because it always seems that the interference of family in work affects women more than men. We women are always struggling to be equal also in this particular point, and it seems that we are achieving it’.

The problem now is that, although it affects both men and women, access to reconciliation measures is easier for women ‘and not because men do not want to reconciliate, but often due to the fact that some companies or the society in general does not consider it correct or legitimate, especially in the private sector, and there are still few men who take a paternity leave, career breaks...We have found that they are being increasingly affected by the problems or conflicts that may occur at home, but at the moment society is not responding to their needs’. In this sense, male participants of the study perceive they have less social support than women.

The study concludes that ‘perhaps, contrary to expectations, it is men who are most at risk (they have to cope with increased demands with fewer resources), and they suffer more damage (burnout) than women. Therefore, it may be time to consider how long we should keep positive discrimination policies toward women and how to move towards a true equal opportunities policy, at least from the perspective of this investigation’. Both women and men are affected by the interference between public and private spheres. Society demands men to be involved effectively in family care, but when they try to do it, they find fewer chances, argues Eva Cifre. In this sense, the study states that ‘the aim is to achieve equality both at work (support from work to family) and at home (support from family to work) for both sexes, which is an important task for society, especially through training and education against these stereotypes so deeply rooted in our society’.

The study also analyzes what most motivates women and men at work, the so-called engagement. In this case, the differences by reason of sex found were even greater than when assessing what affects men and women in a negative way. Men are more hooked to work in a positive sense than women if they perceive a low work demand and a high mental competence. However, women are more motivated if they perceive a low role conflict, that is, if they know clearly what their tasks are, and if they have a certain mental and emotional stress that they perceive as a challenge. Motivation also increases if they think they can undertake the work with high efficiency.

The study, published in the journal Gestión Práctica de Riesgos Laborales, included a questionnaire known as RED (Recursos_Experiencias_Demandas) conducted by the WoNT team to a heterogeneous sample belonging to different occupational sectors, consisting of 1 444 workers (39% men and 61% women). After conducting the questionnaire, the team dealt in depth some issues with a study on teaching and research staff and administrative and services staff from Universitat Jaume I, in order to compare the responses of men and women who occupy the same kind of work positions.

The research team WoNT, made up by members of the Department of Developmental, Educational and Social Psychology and Methodology from UJI and directed by Marisa Salanova, works on several lines of research to advance in the understanding of psychosocial factors affecting workers and collaborates with companies and institutions to transfer these advances to the labour world.

More information: http://www.wont.uji.es/