Demand-control-support among female and male managers in eight Swedish companies

• Published in: Stress and health 2001-07, Vol.17 (4), p.231-243
• Main Authors: Bernin, Peggy, Theorell, Töres
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gender; job strain; managers; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Occupational psychology; psychological stress; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Work condition. Job performance. Stress; work organization
• ISSN: 1532-3005; 1532-2998
• DOI: 10.1002/smi.905

This work is part of the Swedish project ‘Managers and Stress’. In the report the Swedish version of the Demand–Decision Latitude model was used, which made it possible to compare data with an earlier population study. A total of 179 male and 56 female managers were included. The demands and decision latitude scores were significantly higher than in the population study. Social support buffers high demands but surprisingly the managers did not report higher support than the participants in the population. Psychological demands and skill discretion differed significantly between companies. The hypotheses that psychological demands and decision latitude differ between female and male managers had to be rejected. The period of extensive changes which has taken place in working‐life, especially in the government sector, probably influenced the results. The results did not indicate higher stress in those managers working in the companies that were the most extensive ‘downsizers’. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.