Influence of task demands on occupational stress: Gender differences

• Published in: Journal of safety research 2012-12, Vol.43 (5-6), p.365-374
• Main Authors: Herrero, Susana García, Saldaña, Miguel Ángel Mariscal, Rodriguez, Javier García, Ritzel, Dale O.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Bayes Theorem; Bayesian networks; Belief networks; Demand; Female; Gender; Gender differences; Humans; Industry; Job demands; Male; Mathematical models; Middle Aged; Occupational Health; Occupational stress; Sex Factors; Spain; Stress, Psychological; Task Performance and Analysis; Working conditions; Workload
• ISSN: 0022-4375; 1879-1247
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2012.10.005

Occupational stress is a common phenomenon in our society, and generates problems for both workers' health and the functioning of organizations. Over past decades numerous studies have examined occupational stress from the perspective of gender, offering somewhat contradictory results. Some of them found no differences and others indicated that either men or women suffer from greater amounts of occupational stress. The purpose of this study was to analyze gender differences in stress in situations that involve certain occupational demands. The data used were taken from a random sample population of 11,054 (5,917 men and 5,137 women) from the VI National Survey on Working Conditions (NSWC) which was conducted in Spain in 2007. To carry out this study, a probabilistic model was constructed using Bayesian networks, with the following variables related to task demands: working with tight deadlines, quick work, intellectually demanding work, complicated tasks, repetitive tasks, excessive work, and work demanding high attention levels. The results of this study reveal that: the indicators studied significantly increased stress levels; women initially had higher stress levels than men; and when exposed to determined task demands, stress differences between genders tended to increase. Companies need to consider the gender of their workers when assigning tasks in high demand/stress jobs. ► Women display higher levels of stress than their male co-workers. ► Variables related to work task exacerbate symptoms of stress in both genders. ► Work-related mental fatigue from stress was more negative on women than on men.