Abstract

This study was intended to investigate the sex-role related stress factors of the carried working women of the low-income class, and to test the effects of sex-role characteristics on their adjustment to everyday life. Married women who are in their 20's to 40's and working in jobs such as factory worker, housemaid, street-vendor and cleaning person were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included the measurement of work-related variables, interpersonal relationships and the division of household chores in the family, sex-role characteristics, and the adjustment levels. The results showed that, in addition to the difficulties of the poor working conditions such as low-income, long working hours, and poor work environment, problems due to stereotyped sex-roles such as taking care of the children, housekeeping, and over-working due to the double roles were serious stress factors for these women. The analysis of the sex-role characteristics showed in general high femininity scores and significantly low masculinity scores which is quite surprising considering the fact that these women all have jobs outside the family. Whereas the femininity scores did not have any effect, the masculinity scores had a significant effect on the prediction of the adjustment levels. This result was discussed in relation to the sex-role characteristics of this subject population.