ANXIETY AND LIFE SATISFACTION OF WORKING

AND NON-WORKING MOTHERS

A Dissertation submitted to Sikkim University in Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirement for the award of the Degree of

MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY

TIKA MAYA CHETTRI

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

SCHOOL OF HUMAN SCIENCES

SIKKIM UNIVERSITY

DECEMBER 2015

1
 DECLARATION

I declare that the dissertation entitled, “Anxiety and Life Satisfaction of Working and Non-

Working Mothers” submitted to Sikkim University for the degree of the Master of

Philosophy, is the record of bonafide research carried out by me under the supervision and

guidance of Dr. Satyananda Panda, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, School

of Human Sciences, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim. I further declare that this

dissertation has not been previously formed the basis of the award of any degree, diploma,

associateship, fellowship or any other similar title of recognition.

(TIKA MAYA CHETTRI)

ROLL NO: 14MPPS02

We recommend this dissertation to be placed before the examiners for evaluation.

Dr. Satyananda Panda Dr. Nutankumar S. Thingujam,

(Supervisor) Associate Professor & Head of the Department

Department of Psychology Department of Psychology

2
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “Anxiety and Life Satisfaction of Working

and Non-Working Mothers” submitted to the Sikkim University in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Psychology, embodied the result of

bonafide research work carried out by Miss. Tika Maya Chettri under my guidance and

supervision. No part of the dissertation has been submitted for any other Degree, Diploma,

Associateship and fellowship.

Dr. Satyananda Panda

Supervisor

Department of Psychology

Sikkim University

Place: Gangtok

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my Supervisor, Dr.

Satyananda Panda, for his constant guidance, moral support, and his innovative idea of this

topic. Since the topic has not been yet researched in case of Sikkim, hopefully this small

study would bring attention it requires and bring about some good and viable suggestions and

interventions for the problem. His constant feedback made it possible for me to successfully

complete the dissertation work within the stipulated time. I would also like to extend my

heartfelt thanks to Dr. Nutankumar S. Thingujam (Head of the Department) and Dr.

Saurav Maheshwari, faculty member of our department for their moral support and

inspiration throughout the research work. I would also like to extend my humble gratitude to

Sikkim University for providing us such a wonderful opportunity to carry out our research

work.

My sincere thanks goes to all my supportive friends who were always there for motivation

and support throughout my research work and who had given their precious time to help me

in data collection. Without their support, the study would not have been successful. I am

really grateful to the team of District Hospital, Namchi and STNM Hospital, Gangtok for

their precious time and extending their co-operation in data collection.

Last, but not the least, I would like to express my love and gratitude to my family members

and friends for their moral support and motivation.

Date: (Tika Maya Chettri)

4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SL. NO. CONTENTS PAGE NOS.

1 LIST OF TABLES V

2 LIST OF FIGURES VII

3 ABSTRACT VIII

CHAPTER CHAPTERS PAGE/S

NO.

I. INTRODUCTION 1-30

3
1.1 Working and Non-Working Women- “pros

and cons”

1.2 Working and Non-working Mothers 4

Defined

1.3 Anxiety Defined

6

1.4 Types, Risk Factors, Causes and Effects of 9

Anxiety

1.5 Theories of Anxiety

18

5
 1.6 Prevalence rate of Anxiety 22

1.7 Life Satisfaction Defined 23

1.8 Determinants of Life Satisfaction 25

1.9 Effect of Anxiety on Life Satisfaction

29

II. 31-57
REVIEW OF RELATED

LITERATURE

2.1 Researches on Anxiety among Working

and Non-Working Mothers 32

2.2 Researches on Life Satisfaction among the

Working and Non-working mothers

45

2.3 Statement of the Problem

54

2.4 Rationale of the study

55

2.5 Aim of the study

56

2.6 Objectives
56

2.7 Hypotheses
57

6
III. 58-69
METHODOLOGY

3.1 Sampling Design 61

3.2 Tools used 63

3.3 Procedure 68

69
3.4 Statistical techniques used

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 70-89

7
 90-99
V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND

SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Objectives 91

5.2 Hypotheses 92

5.3 Sample 92

5.4 Tools
93

93
5.5 Analyses

93
5.6 Results
94
5.7 Conclusions

98
5.8 Limitations
98
5.9 Suggestions for future research

100-120
REFERENCES

APPENDICES

8
 LIST OF TABLES

SI. No. Table No. Title Page No.

Showing the Percentage of Socio-Demographic

1. 4.1 Variables of Working and Non-working Mothers (N =

100) 70

Showing the Mean, Standard Deviation and t-value on

2. 4.2 State and Trait Anxiety of Working and Non-working

Mothers (N = 100) 73

Showing the Mean, Standard Deviation and t-value of

3. 4.3 Overall Anxiety Mean Scores of Working and Non-

working Mothers (N = 100) 76

Showing the Mean, SD and Correlation Values of

4. 4.4 Different Dimensions Anxiety and Life Satisfaction of

Working and Non-working Mothers (N=100)

78
Showing Mean, SD and T Value of Different
Dimensions of Anxiety of Working and Non-working
5. 4.5
Mothers (N = 100)
80

9
 Showing the Mean, SD and t-value of Life Satisfaction

6. 4.6 of Working and Non- Working Mothers (N = 100)

83

Showing Coefficient of Correlation among Different

Dimensions of Anxiety and Life Satisfaction of
7. 4.7
Working and Non-working Mothers (N=100)
85
Showing the R and Significant Values of Anxiety with

8. 4.8 Life Satisfaction among Working Mothers (N= 50)

87
Showing the Correlation Coefficients of Anxiety as an

9. 4.9 Independent Variable 88

Showing the R Values and Significant Values of

10. 4.10 Anxiety of Non-working Mothers (N= 50) 89

10
 LIST OF FIGURES

SI. No. Graph No. Title Page No.

Representing the Bar Chart of State and Trait Anxiety

1. 4.1 Mean Scores for Working and Non-Working Mothers

(N=100) 74

Representing the Bar Chart of Overall Anxiety Mean

2. 4.2 Scores for Working and Non-Working Mothers (N=

100) 76

Showing the Mean Scores on Different Dimensions of

3. 4.3 Anxiety of Working & Non-Working Mothers

(N=100) 81

Showing the Mean Scores on Life Satisfaction of

4. 4.4 Working & Non-Working Mothers (N=100)

84

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 ABSTRACT

The role of women in the society is constantly questioned and for centuries, women have

struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male-oriented. In the present

context, there is an ample need to study anxiety and life satisfaction among working and non-

working mothers particularly in traditional socio-cultural Sikkim‟s family context. The aim of

the present study was to investigate the existence of anxiety and compare anxiety and life

satisfaction level among working and non-working mothers. The study also aimed to

investigate whether anxiety has any effects on life satisfaction among working and non-

working mothers. Purposive sampling method was used for this study. 50 graduate

government servants (Working mothers) and 50 graduate housewives (non-working mothers)

were selected as part of the sample. State-Trait Anxiety Test was used to assess the level of

state and trait anxiety among working and non-working mothers. Life satisfaction scale was

also used to assess the life satisfaction level among working and non-working mothers.

Participants‟ scores were evaluated and analysed after using statistical techniques like mean,

standard deviation, t-test, correlation and regression.

The results showed that there exists no significant difference on the level of anxiety among

working mothers than the non-working mothers though the mean anxiety scores of both the

group is high. There exists no significant difference on life satisfaction level among working

and non-working mothers though the mean scores of life satisfaction of working mothers is

higher than non-working mothers. There exists negative and significant correlation between

anxiety and life satisfaction among working and non-working mothers. There exists no

significant interaction effect of low and high anxiety level on the life satisfaction among

working and non-working mothers. The findings showed that anxiety has no significant

12
relationship with life satisfaction. It can be concluded that anxiety does not significantly

predict life satisfaction among non-working mothers.

13
CHAPTER- I
Introduction

14
 CHAPTER- I

INTRODUCTION

The term “woman” defines an adult girl, being the usual term for a female child or

adolescent. However, the term “woman” is also sometimes used to identify a female human,

regardless of age. Womanhood is the period in a female's life after her transition from

childhood to adolescence, generally after crossing the age of 18 years. But the motherhood

determines as a manifestation of human form, the cosmic wonder of creation. Mother is a

woman who has conceived, given birth to, or raised a child in the role of a parent. Because of

the complexity and differences of mothers' social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles,

it is challenging to define a mother to suit a universally accepted definition. The masculine

equivalent is a father (Apter, 1985).

The role of women in the society is constantly questioned and for centuries, women have

struggled to find their place in a predominantly male-oriented world. Literature provides a

porthole into the lives, thoughts and actions of women during certain periods of time in a

fictitious form, yet often truthful in many ways. Woman has a great part to play in the

progress of our country, as the mental and physical contact of women with life is much more

lasting and comprehensive than that of men (Bernard, 1971). In the apron-string of women is

hidden the revolutionary energy, which can establish paradise on this earth. Woman is the

magnificent creation of God, a multi-faceted personality with the power of benevolence,

adjustability, integrity and tolerance (Ghadially, 1998). She is a companion of man, gifted

with equal mental faculty, a protector and a provider, the embodiment of love and affection.

The role specified to women in a society is a measuring bar and it is a true index of its

civilization and cultural attainment. First of all, it is clear that a woman‟s place, just like a

man‟s is in the home. Women have started to reach the highest places and to occupy the

15
scariest and most exciting positions of power within society. At the same time, they have

continued to stay home and have children. It is really a matter of individual choice. Women‟s

place should not be confined within the house because they have much more to offer to

society.

Women got the reputation of being housebound creatures though there is no fault of their

own; they were repressed on every level. They were forced to wear certain dress code, their

education was severely hampered, shortened and they were simply traded off in strategic

marriages of convenience. Woman now believes that a successful career is the key to

financial and social life. Obviously, the lives women live today are much different than they

were before. Today, there are several roles women may choose to fulfill/carry out. Today,

most of the married women are working. They are expanding their lives to include a career;

and side by side, maintaining their traditional roles at home. This combination of housework

and career-work is the reason why working mothers today have more stress than working

fathers (Hoffman, 1986).

Mothers may work in an office from nine to five or whatever may be, but their work does not

end at the office. After working an eight-hour or more a day, a mother will come home to

take care of her children, husband, and house. Women remain the primary caretaker and

housekeeper of a family, and are also the primary caregiver for the elderly. All of this makes

for a very demanding schedule. This is not only true for mothers of school-aged children, as it

have been for two decades, but it is also true for mothers of infants less than one-year-old.

The pace with which maternal employment rates have increased to this point, however, is so

rapid that many people fail to realize its prevalence (Rapaport & Rapaport, 1972).

Furthermore, attempts to understand its effects often ignore the fact that this change is part of

a whole complex of social changes. Both employed mothers and homemakers today live in a

very different environment than their counterparts forty or even twenty years ago. Nearly

16
three-quarters of all mothers are in the labor force. Even among mothers with very young

children, more than sixty percent are in the labor force (Rachel, 2006).

1.1 Working and Non-working Women- “pros and cons”

The report, “Global Employment Trends for Women- March 2003” states that the number of

employed women grew by almost 200 million over the decade, to reach 1.2 billion in 2007

compared to 1.8 billion men. According to the Registrar General of India, the work

participation rate of women increased from 19.67% in 1981 to 25.68% in 2001, with a higher

rate in rural areas. Educated women now seek employment in the sectors which were pre-

dominated by men. The employment of women seems to be associated with certain factors

like her age, financial demands, self-esteem and intellectual needs. Not all women work

because she is compelled to; some work because they are young and unmarried. Some

women continue work even after their marriage and attaining motherhood. For some, family

and socio-economic status determine whether or not she seeks employment, for example,

women who are married but do not have children are more likely to work than the ones who

are mothers; and also among mothers, those who have young kids and children may be

engaged in work than those who have got very young babies. Similarly, those who are well-

educated and belong to liberal family have greater chance of working. However, irrespective

of her employment status, our society still visualizes her as primary carriers of children and

family members. Thus, a woman who is working has to play a dual role, as a home-maker,

and also as an employee of an organization/institution (Gandhi, 2015).

Working women often have to shoulder household responsibilities and rear their children.

This in turn, affects her health and she may show symptoms of anxiety and have decreased

life satisfaction level. However, working women are self-confident, independent, liberal and

ambitious. They are able to contribute to family‟s income and have their own savings, give

their children the required independence as well as proper guidance in day-to-day life. Non-

17
working women, on the other hand, can handle her home well as she have enough time for

herself as well as her home. She is required to manage her household work and provide

quality time for her children and husband. She is also available most of the time to guide her

children in their home-work, cook food in time, and do the laundry. The drawback is that

they have to depend upon their husband for the income and expenditure.

1.2 Working and Non-Working Mothers Defined

Working mothers are those married women employed in either public or private sectors of the

society. With the benefit of education, some working mothers have assumed top positions in

various sectors of the economy. This means that they have found themselves playing dual

roles of mother and bread-winner. As mothers, they strive to run a successful home and as

workers, they try to meet up with the demands of their jobs. Thus, a working mother is a

married or single woman who has a child or children. She is required to keep the home and

also to work to help increase the economic strength of her husband and family. In the case of

a married working mother, she has the essential duties of rearing of children and taking care

of her family and home. Both the office tasks and essential duties create situations that give

rise to pressures to the working mother psychologically.

Non-working mothers are those married women who are unemployed or chose to remain

either by personal choice or were compelled to do so. They stay at their home and take care

of their family and other household works. Being a graduate, they are usually frustrated with

no jobs and are helpless. Women, whether they are full time housewives by choice or by lack

of choices, provide a home or a heaven out of love for their families. In these days of

liberalization, competitions and self-interest, she makes life more protected, warm, caring

loving, for her near and dear ones. With no monetary or other tangible reward for her work,

she makes the house into a home. Her unpaid labour of love and nurture mediates and hides

some of the more glaring contradictions and tensions of the present society. She, who makes

18
lives of people around her more bearable and pleasant, has no one to think for her, or of the

weight on her shoulders. For a more classless or an egalitarian society, the lives of women

need to be made better not merely by education and legislation, but by changing the attitudes

of those entirely dependent on her, and by transforming and restructuring the institutions of

society. The housewife alone does not make a home; all members in the family are

responsible for keeping the family together, peaceful, healthy and sound and safe (Vishnoi,

2014).

1.3 Anxiety Defined

Anxiety may be defined as an emotional state in which physiological and psychological

indications like rapid tremor in the limbs, sweating of hands, flushing of the face and neck,

heart palpitations, blood pressure, inability to sit still, pacing the room, chain smoking,

tenseness, restlessness etc. are clearly visible. It has been studied as a motivational variable

which interferes with academic achievement. Anxiety as a normal phenomenon does not act

as an energizer or drive to outperform activities and achieve our goals. A moderate amount of

anxiety may prove beneficial and thereby improve one‟s performance but as a pathological

phenomenon, it impairs the capacity to think and act freely, and harm our state of mind.

Hull (1943) and Spence (1956) suggested that anxious persons are emotionally responsive

and hence a well-learned response is not likely to be made- given the appropriate stimulus

conditions- if the individual is anxious. High anxiety or emotional responsiveness would only

add the confusion and difficulty of such tasks.

Spielberger (1966) viewed that anxiety is a palpable but transitory emotional state or

condition characterized by feelings of tension and apprehension and heightened automatic

nervous activity. According to Spielberger's (1966) STAT, anxiety is being studied as a

personality trait (trait anxiety) and also as a transitory emotional state (state anxiety) and due

19
to lack of distinction between the two, conceptual confusion with respect of anxiety has

arisen.

Anxiety is distinguished from fear, which is an appropriate cognitive and emotional response

to a perceived threat and is related to the specific behaviours of fight-or-flight responses,

defensive behaviour or escape. It occurs in situations only perceived as uncontrollable or

unavoidable, but not realistically so. Barlow (2001) defined anxiety as "a future-oriented

mood state in which one is ready or prepared to attempt to cope with upcoming negative

events," and that it is a distinction between future and present dangers which divides anxiety

and fear. In positive psychology, anxiety is described as the mental state that results from a

difficult challenge for which the subject has insufficient coping skills.

In the fast pace modern era of rapid industrialisation, urbanisation and commercialisation

where daily routine is being scheduled with excess workload, and is too hectic to be carried

on, anxiety and other problems like stress are increasing. These have become characteristics

of modern-day life hampering our lifestyle and making certain phenomenon changes. Anxiety

can be correlated with gender, age, socio-economic background and socio-economic status,

educational background, life satisfaction, etc. Anxiety is one of the most common

psychological disorders in school aged children and adolescents worldwide (Costello et al.,

2003). The prevalence rate ranges from 4.0% to 25% with an average rate of 8.0% (Bernsteen

& Borchardt, 1991; Bodd et al., 2000).

Anxiety is considered to be a universal phenomena existing across culture, although its

contexts and manifestations are influenced by cultural beliefs and practices (Kleinman, 1985;

Guarnaccia, 1997). Despite the clinical focus on depression, youth anxiety disorders also are

important because they are precursors to later development of depression (Chavira et al.,

2004).

20
Anxiety is the displeasing feeling of fear and concern (Davison, 2008). Anxiety may be

defined as a feeling tone of anticipation, generally unpleasant. Physiologically, it is

manifested in the "fight or flight" mechanism which is triggered by a release of a

comparatively large amount of adrenalin into the bloodstream. Anxiety often leads to a

feeling of fatigue. In the psychological sphere, there is often an increased self-awareness felt

as self-consciousness, or as heightened awareness of one's body. Insomnia is frequent.

Perception of surroundings is likewise heightened and may be distorted.

Anxiety is considered to be a normal reaction to a stressor. It may help an individual to deal

with a demanding situation by prompting them to cope with it. However, when anxiety

becomes overwhelming, it may fall under the classification of anxiety disorder. Generally, it

helps in improving the performance of an individual. It means anxiety should not cross its

threshold value; otherwise it will reach its abnormal level (National Institute of Mental

Health, 2008).

Anxiety can be experienced with long, drawn out daily symptoms that reduce quality of life,

known as chronic (or generalized) anxiety, or it can be experienced in short spurts with

sporadic, stressful panic attacks, known as acute anxiety. Symptoms of anxiety can range in

number, intensity, and frequency, depending on the person. While almost everyone has

experienced anxiety at some point in their lives, most do not develop long-term problems

with anxiety. Anxiety is particularly a human phenomenon and is considered to be a unique

contribution of the 21st century to the mankind. The twenty first century is also known as

"the age of anxiety". Fear or anxiety has evolved over countless generations as an adaptive

mechanism for coping with dangerous or threatening situation and both terms have been used

synonymously. However, there is a distinction between fear and anxiety. The former is

episodic whereas the latter is chronic (Jitender & Mona, 2015).

21
1.4 Types, Risk factors, Causes and Effects of Anxiety

Anxiety is of mainly two types- State and Trait anxiety.

State Anxiety

According to Spielberger et al. (1970), state anxiety reflects a "transitory emotional state or

condition of the human organism that is characterized by subjective, consciously perceived

feelings of tension and apprehension, and heightened autonomic nervous system activity." It

is the anxiety state we experience when something causes us to feel appropriately and

temporarily anxious and this anxiety then retreats until we feel 'normal' again. After the

'threat' has subsided, the anxiety state retreats and the person feels 'normal' again. This is how

most people feel most of the time.

State anxiety is characterised by a state of heightened emotions that develop in response to a

fear or danger of a particular situation. It can contribute to a degree of physical and mental

paralysis, preventing performance of a task or where performance is severely affected, such

as forgetting movements during a dance or gymnastic routine; to breaking in sprint or swim

starts or missing relatively easy shots at goal i.e. pressure situations (NSW HSC Online,

2015).

Trait Anxiety

Trait anxiety refers to a general level of stress that is characteristic of an individual, that is, a

trait related to personality. Trait anxiety varies according to how individuals have conditioned

themselves to respond to and manage the stress. What may cause anxiety and stress in one

person may not generate any emotion in another. People with high levels of trait anxiety are

often quite easily stressed and anxious. According to Spielberger et al. (1970), "Trait anxiety

denotes relatively stable individual differences in anxiety proneness and refers to a general

tendency to respond with anxiety to perceived threats in the environment." It is the 'pre-set'

22
level of anxiety experienced by an individual who has a tendency to be more anxious; to react

less appropriately to anxiety provoking stimuli (NSW HSC Online, 2015).

Risk Factors for Anxiety

Very little is known about antecedent risk factors for anxiety disorders in girls and women.

Seminal findings from a female twin registry suggest that genetic factors are an important

hazard for anxiety disorders in women. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is of interest

because of findings that it shares a common genetic pathway with major depression in

women (Kendler, 1996). Familial environment also may contribute to increased risk,

especially for GAD (Hettema, Neale & Kendler, 2001). An emerging literature offers

compelling evidence that early life adversity, such as childhood sexual or physical abuse,

predisposes to the development of anxiety disorders later in life (Safren et al., 2002). Women

who were sexually abused as children appear to be at increased risk of adult-onset Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder (Nisith, Mechanic & Resick, 2000). Childhood physical and sexual

abuse in patients with anxiety disorders and in a community sample. Similarly, when

assessed as adults, adolescent girls who had formerly been exposed to stress exhibit a greater

risk for symptoms of GAD than adolescent boys (Pine et al., 2002).

Other Risk factors of anxiety that may increase the risk of developing an anxiety disorder

(Mayo Clinic):

a. Being females: Females are more likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder as

compared with their male counterparts because they are exposed to more anxiety provoking

situations both in personal and professional life such as handling family members and

maintaining day- to- day schedules, being at office on time and working till evening is really

tiring job, and still she has to prepare meal at night and do the rest of the household work, and

so on.

23
b. Trauma: Children who endured abuse or trauma or witnessed traumatic events are at

higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder at some point in life. Adults who experience a

traumatic event also can develop anxiety disorders.

c. Stress due to an illness: Having a health condition or serious illness can cause significant

worry about issues such as treatment and future.

d. Stress build up: A big event or a build-up of smaller stressful life situations may trigger

excessive anxiety - for example, a death in the family or ongoing worry about finances.

e. Personality: People with certain personality types for an example; neurotics and psychotics

are more prone to anxiety disorders than others.

f. Having blood relatives with an anxiety disorder: Anxiety disorders can run in families.

g. Drugs or alcohol: Drug or alcohol use or abuse or withdrawal can cause or worsen

anxiety.

h. Other mental health disorders: People with other mental health disorders, such as

depression, often experience anxiety disorder as well.

Causes of Anxiety

Anxiety arises from faulty adaptations to the daily stress and strains of our life. Some of the

main causes of anxiety may be due to following:

1. Physical Condition/Physical Triggers

a. Autonomic Nervous System of humans: The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) of

humans is hard wired to respond to dangers or threats. These responses are not subject to

conscious control and are the same in humans as in lower animals. They represent an

evolutionary adaptation to animal predators and other dangers that all animals including

primitive humans had to cope with. The most familiar reaction of this type is the fight or

flight reaction to a life threatening situation when people have fight or flight reactions, the

level of stress hormones in their blood rises. They become more alert and attentive, their eyes

24
dilate, their heartbeats increases, their breathing rates increases, and their digestion slows

down, making more energy available to the muscles. This emergency reaction is regulated by

a part of the nervous system called the autonomic nervous system or ANS. The ANS is

controlled by the hypothalamus, a specialized part of the brainstem that is among a group of

structures called the limbic system. The limbic system controls human emotions through its

connections to glands and muscles. It also connects to the ANS and higher brain centres, such

as parts of the cerebral cortex. One problem with this arrangement is that the limbic system

cannot tell the difference between a real physical threat and an anxiety-producing thought or

idea. The hypothalamus may trigger the release of stress-hormones from the pituitary gland

even when there is no external danger (Spielberger, 1972).

b. Biochemical basis of anxiety: A second problem is caused by the biochemical side-

effects of too many false alarms in the ANS. When a person responds to a real danger, his/her

body relieves itself of the stress hormones by facing up to the danger or fleeing from it. In

modern life, however, people often have fight or flight reactions in situations where they

cannot run away and lash out physically (Schwarzar, 1997). As a result, their bodies have to

absorb all the biochemical charges of hyper arousal rather than release them. These

biochemical changes can produce anxious feelings as well as muscle tension and other

physical symptoms associated with anxiety.

c. Social and environmental stressors: Since humans are social creatures, anxiety often has a

social dimension to act over it. People frequently report feelings of high anxiety when they

anticipate fear of the loss of social approval or love. Social phobia is a specific anxiety

disorder that is marked by high levels of anxiety or fear of embarrassment in social situations

(Sheikh & Bhusan, 2002). Another social stressor is prejudice for people who belong to

groups that are targets of bias have a higher risk of developing anxiety disorders. Some

experts think, e.g. that the higher rates of phobias and panic disorder among women reflects

25
their greater social and economic vulnerability. Several controversial studies indicate that the

increase in violent or upsetting pictures and stories in news reports and entertainment may

raise people's anxiety levels. Environmental or occupational factors can also cause anxiety

people who must live or work around sudden or loud noises, bright or flashing lights,

chemical vapours, or similar nuisances that they cannot avoid or control may develop

heightened anxiety levels.

d. Personality: Many hypotheses show that life experiences alone does not determine

whether a person will or will not develop anxiety (Taylor, 1953). The researchers believe

personality may play a major role in how well a person deals with whatever life throws their

way. This is based on the idea that people who have low self-esteem and poor coping skills

seems to be more prone to developing anxiety than do people with higher self-esteem and

good coping skills. People who have low self-esteem or poor coping skills tend to look at the

situation as more of a challenge, which results in greater amount of self-inflicted stress. These

stressors if left unchecked results in the development of anxiety. Still, other scientists believe

and look to faulty brain chemistry as the underlying cause of anxiety. This is probably the

most widely accepted theory of why people develop anxiety, but it is also one of the theories

which are highly debated. This theory has become widely accepted since the symptoms of

anxiety can be treated with medications. People suffering from anxiety and depression are

thought to have altered levels of neurotransmitters. The two chief chemicals involved are

Nor-adrenaline and Serotonin when given medications; the levels of neurotransmitters are

regulated, therefore, relieving the symptoms of anxiety. The debate over the brain chemistry

theory centres on the issue of whether the person would have improved even without the

medications. Each of these theories, heredity, life experiences, brain chemistry and

personality, are plausible causes of anxiety.

26
2. Drugs/Medication

Numerous medications may cause anxiety like symptoms as a side effect. They include:

a. Thyroid and asthma control

b. Some psychotropic agents

c. Corticosteroids

d. Anti-hypertensive drugs

e. NSAIDS (such as Flurbiprofen)

f. Local anaesthetics

g. Caffeine can also cause anxiety-like symptoms when consumed in excess amount.

h. Withdrawal from certain prescription drugs primarily 3-blockers and corticosteroids

i. Withdrawal from drugs of abuse, including LSD > Cocaine > Alcohol > Opiates

3. Psychological Conditions

a. Childhood Development and Anxiety: Researchers in early childhood development regard

anxiety in adult life as a residue of childhood memories of dependency. Humans learn during

the first year of life that they are not self-sufficient and that their basic survival depends on

others. It is thought that this early experience of helplessness underlies the most common

anxieties of adult life, including fear of powerlessness and fear of not being loved. Thus,

adults can be made anxious by symbolic threats to their sense of competence or significant

relationships, even though they are no longer helpless children.

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4. Other Causes of Anxiety

The causes of anxiety are wide-ranging and sometimes it seems to just come out of the blue,

in these cases talking to a therapist who is more familiar with some of the common triggers of

anxiety in men can help you find the root cause. Some of the common causes of anxiety are:

Ongoing stress (e.g. pressure at work or from family life)

Stress from a particular situation (e.g. job loss, moving house)

Suffering abuse as a child (physical, psychological or sexual)

Experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event

Drug use (NB men more than women use drugs or alcohol to try and manage their anxiety,

but these can actually contribute to anxiety in the long run).

Effects of Anxiety

The behavioural effects of anxiety may include withdrawal from situations which have

provoked anxiety in the past. Anxiety can also be experienced in ways which include changes

in sleeping patterns, nervous habits, and increased motor tension like foot tapping (Barker,

2003).

The emotional effects of anxiety may include "feelings of apprehension or dread, trouble

concentrating, feeling tense or jumpy, anticipating the worst, irritability, restlessness,

watching (and waiting) for signs (and occurrences) of danger, and, feeling like your mind's

gone blank as well as "nightmares/bad dreams, obsessions about sensations, “deja vu”, a

trapped in your mind feeling, and feeling like everything is scary” (Smith, 2008).

The cognitive effects of anxiety may include thoughts about suspected dangers, such as fear

of dying. "You may fear that the chest pains are a deadly heart attack or that the shooting

pains in your head are the result of a tumour or aneurysm. You feel an intense fear when you

28
think of dying, or you may think of it more often than normal, or can't get it out of your

mind." (NSW HSC Online, 1987–2008).

Appraisal of Threat-Anxiety (State)

Threat appraisals are influenced by the objective characteristics of a situation and objectively

dangerous stressors are realistically appraised as threatening by most people. But the thoughts

and memories stimulated by a particular event, along with an individual„s coping skills and

previous experience with similar circumstances, may often have an even greater impact.

Consequently, the same stimulus may be seen as a threat by one person, a challenge by

another and as largely irrelevant by a third. The experience of threat is essentially a state of

mind which has two main characteristics: it is future oriented, generally involving the

anticipation of a potentially harmful event that has not yet happened; it is mediated by

complex mental processes, that is, perception, thought, memory, and judgment which are

involved in the appraisal process. Threat appraisals of present or future danger serve an

important function in producing emotional reactions that mobilize an individual to take action

to avoid harm. But even when there is no objective danger, the perception or appraisal of

situation as threatening transmits the essential message of stress which results in arousal of an

anxiety state (Spielberger, 1989).

1.5 Theories of Anxiety

Anxiety today is well understood to be a multifaceted phenomenon and no one theory can

satisfactorily explain the mechanism of the factors and elements attributive to the cause and

sustenance of anxiety. A complete understanding of the aetiology of anxiety has remained

elusive due to the myriad of factors involved in its precipitation and maintenance. Human

emotions and personality have varied genetic, environmental, cultural, social and behavioural

underpinnings. In the light of this fact, the diverse theoretical perspectives that emerge can be

generally divided into four paradigms:

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a. Psychodynamic Theories

Freud‟s psychoanalysis was the original psychodynamic theory, but the psychodynamic

approach as a whole includes all theories that were based on his ideas, e.g. Jung (1964), Adler

(1927) & Erikson (1950). Psychodynamic theories view anxiety as an unpleasant affective

state originating in the unconscious. According to this theory, anxiety is a signal or a

symptom of an unconscious conflict, usually stemming from childhood that remains

unresolved. To deal with their feelings of anxiety, people develop psychological defenses that

may be either adaptive (i.e. realistic anxiety) or maladaptive (i.e. neurotic anxiety).

b. Expressive-behavioural Theories

In an extension of Darwin„s original formulation, Izard (1977) conceptualized anxiety as

composite of a number of discrete emotions, the most notable of which is fear. Other

emotions that most frequently combine with fear to create anxiety include anger, guilt, shame

and interest. Of these, the emotions that combine with fear to create anxiety depends on the

situation in which anxiety is experienced. These theories focus on the affective or feeling

component of anxiety, deemphasizing cognitive elements of anxiety.

c. Biological Theories

Biological theories suggest that different emotions result from activation of specific parts of

the brain. An influential biological theory of anxiety was proposed by Gray (1982), who

stated that anxiety stems from activation of the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS). BIS

inhibits behaviour in response to threatening stimuli. People who have high trait anxiety have

very reactive BIS. Support for biological basis of anxiety has been found in studies showing

that heredity plays a role in the experience of anxieties. Thus, genetic factors create a

vulnerability, the manifestation of which is determined by environmental factors.

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d. Cognitive Theories

All prominent cognitive theories of anxiety are appraisal theories. The appraisal process

involves two stages, a primary appraisal in which an individual determines the threat posed

by the environment, and, following a threatening primary appraisal, a secondary appraisal

where the individual evaluates his or her ability to cope with the demands of the environment.

Beck, Emery & Greenberg (1985) have suggested that maladaptive anxiety results from

distortions in this appraisal process. People who suffer from chronic anxiety are those who

misperceive begin situations as threatening. Here, they emphasized upon the influence of trait

characteristics in the process, preferentially selecting threat related information among the

wide array of information available to the individual. In an extension of the cognitive

approach, Barlow & Chorpita (1998) suggest that anxiety is a cognitive-affective

phenomenon, at the core of which lies negative affect. Perceptions of threat are influenced by

early experiences with uncontrollability that creates a psychological vulnerability to anxiety

and a biological predisposition to experience anxiety in the face of negative life events.

Specifically, negative life events activate the biological vulnerability to stress, leading trait

anxious people to perceive the environment as threatening even in the absence of an

identifiable stressor. If the person then perceives that the event is uncontrollable and

unpredictable (i.e. it could happen again) and perceives that he or she lacks the coping

resources, anxiety will be experienced.

Disproportionate attention to threatening information, also referred to as vigilance for threat

or threat related attentional bias, has been proposed as central in the maintenance and

development of anxiety states and anxiety disorders.

Diagnostic Criteria for Anxiety

According to the DSM-5, Chapter V on Anxiety disorder no longer includes obsessive-

compulsive disorder (which is included with the Obsessive-Compulsive and related

31
Disorders) or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder (which is included

with the Trauma-and stressor-related disorders). Anxiety disorders can be broken down into

the following types: Panic disorders, agoraphobia, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder or

social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, acute distress

disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, anxiety disorder due to a general medical condition,

substance-induced anxiety, and anxiety disorder not otherwise specified (American

Psychological Association, 2013).

Several symptoms are common to the range of anxiety disorders, such as “a sense of

uncontrollability focused on possible future threat, danger, or other anticipated, potentially

negative events,” (American Psychological Association, 2013), a shift towards self-

centeredness, physiological symptoms (e.g., sweating, heart palpitations, trembling, etc.).

Common symptoms become problematic when using existing classification systems, raising

the issue of discriminate validity. Researchers speculate that overlapping symptoms are

significant in understanding prevention, treatment and aetiology of emotional disorders

(Andrews, 1996; Tyrer, 1989). Moreover, given criteria listed by classification systems such

as the DSM-IV, identification of sub-clinical symptoms may be highly compromised. It is,

therefore, crucial to understand the extent of sub-clinical symptoms and the overlapping

relationship with that of established criteria as set in the DSM-V.

1.6 Prevalence rate of Anxiety

According to the results of the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Australian

Adults (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006) women are more likely than men to experience

an anxiety disorder (12% compared with 7% respectively). The one year prevalence rates for

generalized anxiety disorder were 2.4 % for women compared to 0.9 % for men, suggesting

that women experience generalized anxiety disorder more frequently than their male

counterparts. Prevalence rates for anxiety in a community sample of women vary

32
considerably. One possible source of discrepancy between studies is the diagnostic criteria

used. While it is important to know the estimated number of adults who do meet criteria for a

clinically diagnosable disorder, it also seems that this information does not provide a

complete picture of the anxiety experienced by this population.

Few studies have examined the prevalence of sub-clinical anxiety symptoms in women,

despite findings suggesting that sub-clinical levels of anxiety can also cause considerable

levels of distress. The onset of some types of anxiety disorder tends to be in early adulthood,

whereas others tend to emerge in childhood or adolescence. Parallel with the literature on the

prevalence of anxiety disorders, onset typically occurs in adolescence (Dozois & Dobson,

2004). This finding highlights the importance of identifying early indicators of anxiety within

this population due to the fact that many adolescents. Experience mild to moderate (sub-

clinical) levels of anxiety. Consequently, sub-clinical levels of anxiety in adults may have

adverse effects on career, personal life and their child‟s life. Unfortunately, compared to the

empirically-based knowledge about depression, knowledge about adult anxiety is less

available, perhaps because anxiety, specifically as a research focus, has been largely

neglected.

1.7 Life Satisfaction Defined

Life satisfaction is the ultimate goal that we as human beings are striving to achieve our

entire lives. The label “satisfaction” is a concept that can mean many different things to

different individuals. Life satisfaction is one of the oldest and most persistently investigated

issues in the study of women. In this context it is generally referenced as “an assessment of

the overall conditions of existence as derived from a comparison of one‟s aspirations to one‟s

actual achievements.” According to George (1979), life satisfaction refers to an assessment of

individuals‟ „„overall conditions of existence as derived from a comparison of one‟s

aspirations to one‟s actual achievements‟‟. Life satisfaction is the way a person evaluates his

33
or her life and how he or she feels about where it is going in the future. It is a measure of

well-being and may be assessed in terms of mood, satisfaction with relations with others and

with achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with daily life. It is

having a favourable attitude of one's life as a whole rather than an assessment of current

feelings. Satisfaction with one‟s life implies contentment with acceptance of one‟s life

circumstances, or the fulfilment of one‟s wants and needs for one‟s life as a whole. In

essence, life satisfaction is a subjective assessment of the quality of one‟s life. Because it is

inherently an evaluation, judgements of life. satisfaction have a large cognitive component.

Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economic standing, amount of education,

experiences, and residence, as well as many other topics. Self-reported life satisfaction

essentially reflects the individual‟s cognitive assessment of his/her progress toward desired

goals in life.

Life satisfaction has been one of the oldest and most persistently studied indicators of

psychological well-being of adults (Lewis & Borders, 1995). The concept of life satisfaction

is part of a broader field of enquiry, commonly referred as Quality of Life (QOL), which is

one of the prime areas of interest in positive psychology. The prime concern in that field is to

develop criteria for the „good‟ life.

According to Akbari (2012), the determinants of life satisfaction are: high profile job and

good/ sufficient income; socio-economic status; good physical and mental health; warm

personal, social and professional relationships; security; and personality. So, it is really

important to examine the factors that affect life satisfaction. The dual task of handling home

and job mixed with a real or perceived threat against mothers may make them feel rejected,

isolated and tense. A patriarchal society where males dominate the domestic as well as the

work front, a growing sense of anxiety is imperative. The social situations that make them

uncertain and hesitant also make them socially anxious. Women have not only excelled in

34
teaching, medicine, nursing and social services but they have also proved their worth in

commercial fields. The problems and difficulties of working mothers are multidimensional

and may be broadly classified into three types environmental, social and psychological.

Joining the business life outside home is an extra burden for mothers who have already been

responsible for babysitting (child rearing) and other household chores. From this aspect,

working mothers are expected to have more psychological symptoms. However, the studies

carried out in various countries show that it is not the case. Working has the positive

psychological influence on women especially those from lower socio-economic class.

Life satisfaction of working and non-working women depends upon many factors. In any

individual, it is the result of an advantage situation. These situations are created by socio-

economic status, environmental conditions, marital adjustment, job satisfaction, such as

nature of work, place of posting, salary etc. Anxiety, ego weakness frustration, guilt

proneness, suspiciousness equally influences adversely the life satisfaction of an individual.

1.8 Determinants of Life Satisfaction

Studies have shown that people who are satisfied with their lives are positive about other

aspects of their lives such as their health. So, it is important to examine the factors related

with life satisfaction. Life satisfaction is determined by various factors and domains. It

depends upon various factors such as religion, health, age, personality, education level,

marital status, employment status, socio-economic status, income, etc. Several studies have

demonstrated that the gender equality within a culture (i.e., freedom to make family handling

choices, equal pay, equal opportunity to education, and achievement), the greater reported life

satisfaction (Sousa & Lyubomirsky, 2000).

1. Personality: Literature suggests that personality play a significant role in whether a woman

will judge her life to be satisfying. However, proximal environmental factors

35
(e.g., recent life events) can influence life satisfaction judgments in the short term. Both

nature and nurture (i.e., personality and environment) appear to be influential in determining

life satisfaction, and to discount one explanation in favour of the other would not be

empirically or theoretically productive (Beutell, 2006).

2. Culture: Fortunately, satisfaction appears to be a universal term, and cross-cultural

researches have been possible without the interference of linguistic basis. Current researches

show that members of individualist cultures report greater life satisfaction relative to

members of collectivistic cultures. Cultures that are more accepting of differences (gender,

sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, religion) and those that demand equal treatment of and

equal opportunity for their citizens, appear to foster greater overall satisfaction. It is not

surprising that women living in patriarchal cultures in which equal opportunities are

unavailable and equal value is not afforded would experience greater dissatisfaction with

their lives than women living in egalitarian cultures.

3. Subjective Health: Various cross-sectional studies have shown that reports of good

physical health are associated with higher level of life satisfaction (Mroczek & Spiro, 2005).

Brief et al., (1993) however, argued that perceived health appears to have a strong

relationship with subjective well-being, while objective health is only weakly associated. A

possible explanation is provided by Diener et al., (1999) who mentioned that self-rated health

measurements reflect not only one‟s actual physical condition but also one‟s level of

emotional adjustment.

4. Age: Life satisfaction varies with age under the influence of some other factors like health,

retirement and income. According to the survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

to assess the effect of ageing and health on life satisfaction of the oldest old (defined as 75

and older). A U-shaped curve relationship between age and levels of life satisfaction for

individuals aged between 16 and approximately 65 has been observed. Thereafter, life

36
satisfaction declines rapidly and the lowest absolute levels of life satisfaction are recorded for

the oldest old. This decline is primarily attributable to low levels of perceived health (Sousa-

Poza & Gwozdz, 2003).

5. Education: Studies related to the effect of education on life satisfaction across thirty-five

countries show that life satisfaction is higher in countries where people have more education

(Cheung & Chan, 2009). Generally, as education and income level increase, life satisfaction

also increases (Light, Hertsgaard & Martin, 1985). But at individual level, this correlation

between educational level and life satisfaction is small. Also the correlation more or less

disappears when income and occupation are statistically controlled. That is, the relationship

between education and life satisfaction is probably due to the fact that higher levels of

education are associated with higher incomes.

6. Employment: Effects of employment on life satisfaction operate as a network. There are

many factors associated as with employment that decide whether an individual feels satisfied

and happy as a result of his work or not. Some of those factors are employment status, job

satisfaction and the type of employment an individual is engaged in.

a. Employment status: An individual‟s employment status, regardless of income, appears to

predict life satisfaction, such that the unemployed reports significantly diminished

satisfaction compared with employed. Waddell and Burton (2006) indicated that there is a

strong theoretical case that work and paid employment are generally beneficial for physical

and mental health, as well as for the well-being. They argued that employment is generally

the most important means of obtaining adequate economic resources, which are essential for

material well-being. Moreover, they stated that work is central to individual identity, social

roles and social status, and meets important psychological needs in societies where

employment is the norm. Thus, this reasoning depicts employment as the key to increasing

material well-being as well as satisfying psychological needs; it is, feasible that being

37
employed will generally have a greater impact on individuals living in economically deprived

regions than on individuals residing in economically prosperous regions. Employment is one

of the requisites for the satisfaction with life in western societies. A study by Carroll (2005)

focuses on the effects of employment on life satisfaction. The study reveals that employment

has an adverse effect on inhibition of life satisfaction. Moreover, it was found that past

employment also influences current life satisfaction. This could relate to either the long-term

scarring effects of employment, or the fact that past employment is either related to lower

wealth, or to lower expected future earnings. Further, it was consistently found that

employment had a greater effect of lowering life satisfaction for women. While this result is

by no means the usual finding in the literature, thus, it might be reasonable to conclude that,

with the increasing participation of women in the labour force, it may be the case that

women‟s self-esteem is also closely related to their employment. Thus, the effect of

unemployment may be larger for the women than it once was. Also, in case of the married

women, the husband‟s unemployment reduces substantially her life satisfaction (Ahn et al.

2004).

b. Job satisfaction: It is basically how people feel about their jobs and different aspects of

their jobs. Although the relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction has been

examined extensively during the last decades, results have more than often been inconsistent

and inconclusive. According to Tait et al., (1989), it is generally assumed that job satisfaction

should be related to one another, because for many people, work is a significant and central

aspect of their lives in terms of both time and emotional involvement.

1.9 Effect of Anxiety on Life Satisfaction

In the present study, there is an important need to see the effect of anxiety on working and

non-working mothers on the basis of their life satisfaction. Satisfaction with one‟s life is the

ultimate goal of all females, yet it seems to remain so elusive. But what is satisfaction? Is it

38
the same for everyone, and what steps or accomplishments need to be obtained in order to

realize this stage of life? Women have been, and continued to find satisfaction with their

lives. Over recent decades, there has been an enormous increase in the number of females

entering the workforce. However, it appears that society still views females as the primary

carriers of children and other family members and, as a result, many women are now faced

with juggling the role of mother, partner and daughter as well as employee. Indian women

have awakened their part from being asleep and drowsiness. They are not slaves of men now.

The time has come when women must come out of their homes and take their posts in

professional life. The best role they can play as working women and a good housewife and

mother. As a dutiful mother, she can make her children happy, healthy and responsible

citizens. As a housewife, she is a source of joy, comfort and inspiration to her husband and as

a working woman she works outside from their house in offices, banks etc. (Kaur et al. 2012).

39
CHAPTER- II

Review of Related
Literature

40
 CHAPTER- II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Review of research literature is an important pre-requisite to actual planning and for the

execution of any research work before embarking on making a fresh study. According to

Good, Barr and Scates (1941) have stated that survey of related literature helps us to know

whether the evidence already available, solves problems adequately without further

investigation and thus may save duplication. It may contribute to the general scholarship of

investigator by providing ideas, theories and explanations valuable in formulating the

problem and also suggest the appropriate method of research. Realizing the importance of

review, Best (1995) says, “a familiarity with the literature in any problem area helps the

students to discover what is already known, what others have attempted to find out, what

methods have been promising and disappointing and what problems remained to be solved”.

In the above context, it was thought appropriate to review the relevant facts regarding the

variables under consideration.

A review of literature is essential in order to support the selection of variables and decide

about the general framework of the study. It is conducted to consider the critical points of

current research including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological

contributions to a particular topic. Studies related to the present problem are reviewed in this

chapter. Though the number of studies mentioned below may not be directly related to the

present study, yet they are definitely essential for supporting the importance of the present

study. It accomplishes many purposes; some of them are mentioned below:

a) Justify the research.

b) Show where the research fits into the existing body of knowledge.

c) Enable the researcher to learn from previous theory on the subject context.

d) Clarifies relation between the variables.

41
e) Help refine, refocus or even change the topic.

The studies cited below, have direct or indirect relation with the variables of anxiety as well

as life satisfaction of working and non-working mothers. The literature reviewed has been

divided under the following sub-sections:

2.1 Researches on Anxiety among Working and Non-Working Mothers

Beck et al. (1961) conducted a study on the mental health and anxiety among working and

non-working mothers and found that working mothers had better mental health and reported

less anxiety than the non-working mothers. The most frequently reported source of stress for

working mothers was not having enough time to do everything, whereas for non-working

mothers, lack of social life was a major stressor.

Another research suggests that mothers who are in situations where there is conflict in the

roles they play (work outside the home and the traditional role of housewife) would

experience certain anxiety, that they would feel less satisfaction in their role of wife-mother,

and that they would not feel capable of fulfilling themselves in either of these roles. It had

also been predicted that women who attached relatively little importance to the traditional

role of wife-mother would experience no more difficulty in their full-time role outside the

home than do those women who devote themselves entirely to the traditional feminine role.

However, there was little or no difference between the two groups (Siegel & Haas, 1963).

Nye (1963) in one of the interesting study on working mothers concluded that working

mothers are somewhat more positive in their attitude towards children and has described

parenthood as less restricting, burdensome and demanding than unemployed mothers.

In a comparative study of working and non-working mothers on measures of mental health,

self-esteem, and mother role satisfaction have positive effects (Field, 1964).

Kapur (1970) studied role conflict among women and found that working women felt their

personal and professional roles were conflicting.

42
Hoffman (1974) has concluded that the working woman who obtains satisfaction from her

work, who has adequate arrangements so that her dual role does not involve undue strain and

who does not feel so guilty that she over-compensates is likely to do quite well and under-

certain conditions better than non-working mother.

Another study on working women indicated that women who choose to combine marriage

with career face a critical situation and they hardly know how to apportion time and resources

between these two major responsibilities. This makes them experience great conflict, strain

and anxiety (Kapur, 1974).

Researches dealt with the psychological symptoms associated with role stress such as job

satisfaction, job involvement, self-esteem, depression, anxiety and attitudes towards job.The

stresses include task and role; inherent characteristics such as role conflict, role efficiency,

role ambiguity, role overload and working conditions (Pareek, 1976).

Rani (1976) examined why working women took up a paid job (the assumption being that

they were doing something that was traditionally against their nature and prescribed role,

especially since they had very few role models being first generation working women

themselves). The study cited three reasons that motivated women to seek jobs outside their

traditional roles: economic or monitory gain, social role enhancement and personal reasons. It

was also reported that working women felt stressed due to the inability to perform their

traditional role (of homemaker and spouse) as there was not enough time or energy. This

scarcity was the result of their working status. Support and a positive attitude from husbands

towards wives‟ work helped reduce the strain. Working women employed paid help for two

reasons: to reduce the demand from housework and because they could afford to pay for

human help (servants or maids).

As employment of women particularly from middle class is a new phenomenon, no fixed

pattern or redefinition of role of women in terms of the changed context has yet been

43
achieved. Neither working women nor their husbands, nor society in general, is clear about

their roles. Women‟s role and position at present are therefore, not clearly defined, and thus

the situation leads to role conflict and anxiety amongst working mothers (Chakraborty, 1978).

Gupta and Sruti (1982) carried out a study to analyse stress among working women and its

effect on marital adjustment. It was revealed that working women suffer from role conflict

and experienced high level of anxiety, which affects their marital compatibility, close and

intimate relationships and of course work productivity.

Kessler and MacRae (1982) in their study observed that the factors such as financial

situation, children‟s age, work availability, work passion, partner‟s support and health all

plays role in the decision to be working mom or stay-at-home mom.

Non-working mothers are concerned with their domestic field and has less scope to deal with

external stress situation. Their single role creates less pressure in their life and situation and

hence state anxiety is less prominent in them than in the case of working mothers. This

finding is supported by the study of Hoffman (1986); Kessler and MacRae (1982). Moreover,

they found that in general, state and trait both anxieties were prominent in case of working

mothers than in that of the non-working mothers.

Hemlatha and Suryanarayana (1983) concluded through a study on role interventions of

married working women that women‟s problems were greatly influenced by the age and

socio-economic status of working women and husband‟s nature, children‟s age and number,

family type and the nature of work and work timings. Husbands‟ understanding and

cooperation was very important to lessen working women‟s problems.

Light (1984) studied the relationship between working mother‟s anxiety, depression, hostility

levels and their perceived career and family role commitments. It was reported that women

who placed career roles over family roles scored significantly higher on anxiety than those

44
for whom family roles were more important. It is, indeed, that career committed mothers who

are more at risk.

Khanna (1992) studied life stress among working and non-working women in relation to

anxiety and depression. Anxiety was found to be significantly and negatively related to

positive life change in non-working women while depression was found to be significantly

and positively related to positive life change in working women, and negative life change in

non-working women. These results suggest that in India, among working women positive life

changes are related to depression, whereas among non-working women positive life changes

are related to anxiety, and negative life changes to depression.

Most common outcomes of stress for the working woman were poor mental and physical

health resulting in depression, anxiety, asthma, and colitis (Khanna, 1992; Mukhopadhyay,

1996; Sailaja & Swaminathan, 1992a, 1992b; Srivastava, 1995).

It has been observed that having a job has a positive effect on women‟s health, and that the

increasing participation of women in the workforce over decades has not negatively affected

their health but rather has improved it (Hall, 1992). Working women are in better physical

and psychological health than housewives (Baruch & Barnett, 1986; Hall 1992; Matthews et

al. 2001), and have lower levels of morbidity and mortality than unemployed women and

housewives (Silman, 1987).

Hardy and Barkham (1994) found associations between anxious/ambivalent attachment

patterns and reported anxiety about work performance and relationships at work. Avoidant

patterns were associated with & concern over hours of work and, difficulties in relationships

at home and with social life.

Lennon (1994) studied and found that fulltime housework involves more autonomy, more

interruptions, greater physical efforts, more routine, fewer time pressures and less

responsibility for matters outside one‟s control than paid work. Compared to fulltime

45
employed women, homemakers benefit from having less responsibility for things outside

their control. Employed women appeared to benefit from having less routinized work than the

homemakers.

Since, large numbers of non-professional women work not by choice as compared to the

professionally employed women; this reflects their lower level of motivation and confidence

which in turn is indicator of low life satisfaction and higher level of anxiety (Chaudhary,

1995).

In a comparison of working and non-working mothers, studies showed a positive statistically

significant relationship with anxiety score. Traditional role theories suggest that women who

are trying to maintain several roles would be expected to experience negative stressful

feelings (Mukhopadhyay, 1996). It has been concluded by various studies that women

(whether working or non-working) cope with anxiety in a physiologically more economical

way but at a higher psychological cost. This feeling creates a number of physical and

psychological problems for them.

Carr et al. (1998) observed that even though a young mother chooses to work, the workplace

and work environment as a whole continue to be hostile towards them; and shouldering dual

responsibilities may actually decrease their productivity at a workplace. Some research have

focused upon mothers who are working in the academic field where they have found slower

academic progress attributed to working mothers in academic medicine.

Prevalence of depression and anxiety were found to be higher during active life and

reproductive years (20-40 years) of women who forms a significant proportion of the

workforce (Stansfeld et al., 1999).

The positive association between employment and women‟s health status may also reflect the

selection of women being able to work, compared to those out of the labour force for health

or family reasons (Vermeulen & Mustard, 2000). Only a few studies have not found

46
significant differences in mental health status between women who work and those who do

not (Warr & Parry, 1982; Waldron et al., 1982; Waldron, 1991).

Housewives or non-working mothers were more positive in dealing with personal life stress,

experienced high level of anxiety and had a high external locus of control than the working

mothers (Kumari & Singh, 2000).

Women, whether, in their motherhood or not, continues to work even after marriage. When

both spouses work, it may be necessary for the mother to retain her job if she has insurance

benefits, and if she wants to retire with better retirement benefits (Edelman, 2002).

Bajaj and Sachdeva (2004) studied anxiety among working and non-working women. The

working women were selected from three occupational sectors, i.e. nurses, school teachers

and bank employees (15 in each sector). Results revealed that in the lower age group,

working women exhibited significantly higher anxiety, whereas in the higher, age group,

non-working women showed more anxiety. Overall, working women exhibited slightly more

anxiety than non-working women, but the difference was not significant.

Bakhshi et al. (2004) studied the impact of occupational stress on home environment: an

analytical study of working women of Ludhiana city, with the objective to examine working

conditions of selected categories of working women and to analyse the impact of

occupational stress on home environment as perceived by the respondents. Results revealed

that the impact of stress on house care was high while impact of stress on social and leisure

life revealed that they preferred to go for outing. Impact of stress on miscellaneous work

showed that there is no significant difference.

Barnett (2004) pointed out the fact that employment has positive benefits on the mother. It is

also assumed that the roles of a mother and wife have relatively less stress as they are natural

roles, whereas the role of employee, being unnatural, is regarded as highly demanding.

47
Léger Marketing (2004) conducted a National Survey study based on telephone interviews

with 1,508 working women over 18 years of age who were diagnosed with depression and/or

anxiety, or who met diagnostic criteria. The report revealed that one in five working

Canadian women experience depression or anxiety, which has caused some women to avoid

or even, quit work. The survey found that most of the women who experience depression or

anxiety are: (1) between the ages of 35 and 55; (2) lived in a city or a suburban community;

and (3) have children. These women had crossed most occupation types, education levels and

income segments. The study also found regional differences: More women in British

Columbia were diagnosed with depression and anxiety at 18 per cent than those from eastern

regions such as 12 per cent in Ontario and 12 per cent in Quebec.

Ojha and Rani (2004) studied life stress and mental health of working and non-working

women, observed that the stress experienced by working women was significantly higher

than non-working women.

Wilson (2006) has concluded that a great rush of married women into the workforce is

against the traditional belief that women must choose between family and career. Many

observers condemned working mothers as selfish, unnatural and even dangerous to their

society. He observed and concluded from his study that many working women reported to

have been doing their job as because they were seriously in need of money and as a result,

there was a dramatic increase in family‟s standard of living.

Woodward (2007) found that working women reported high workloads, requiring long

working hours, which consumed time and energy otherwise available for other relationships

and commitments and their own leisure. The situation is worst for working mothers as they

have to make arrangement for their children when they have to go to work and also have to

have to help them in doing the home work when they are back home.

48
The working mothers had better mental health and reported less depression than the non-

working mothers. The most frequently reported source of stress for working mothers was not

having enough time to do everything, whereas for non-working mothers lack of social life

was a major stressor (Anderson, 2009).

Jain (2009) did a comparative study on working and non-working women in terms of

personality, adjustment and anxiety. The study revealed that there was no significance

difference found in the mean scores of anxiety of working and non-working women.

Pandya and Thakkar (2009) studied working women and their problems. Their objectives

were to study the job related and household work related problems of working women of

Baroda and to study the differences in the overall problems, job related problems and

household work related problems of working women in relation to their age, type of family,

experience and distance from the workplace. It was found that most of the working women

came from nuclear family because the nuclear family is free from most of the traditional

restriction about female behaviour and there is more freedom for women to seek

employment. Majority of the respondents had more job related and household work related

problems.

Iqbal et al. (2010) conducted a study on working and non-working mothers and found that

anxiety existed among 57% of the sampled mothers; 36% of the working mothers and 74% of

the non-working mothers reported to have anxiety. A statistically significant association

between anxiety in women, educational level and number of children was found. However,

no significant association was observed between mothers‟ anxiety and their family system.

Amrithraj (2011) conducted a study of anxiety among 30 working and 30 non-working

mothers. Results indicated that working mothers were found to be suffering from

significantly higher levels of anxiety than the non-working mothers. The difference between

the two groups was also found statistically significant.

49
According to a study by Adhikari (2012), working mothers are prone to anxiety and

depression regarding their method of child care as they are absentees for long duration. It was

found that there were significant differences in anxiety of working mothers. But, no

significant differences were observed in case of non-working mothers.

Beh and Loo (2012) conducted a research on job stress and coping mechanisms among

nursing staffs in Public Health Services. They intended to investigate the prominent causes

and effects of job stress and coping mechanism among nurses in public health services. The

results indicated that the major contributor of job stress among nurses is the job itself. Heavy

workload, repetitive work, and poor working environment were among the stressors

identified in the category of job itself. Respondents identified that inconsiderate and

inequitable superior/matron, lack of recognition, and conflict within and between groups

were the stressors. Respondents also view social support as a buffer against the dysfunctional

consequences of stress emanating from the workplace and established network of friends,

family, superior, peers, and colleagues to seek emotional support when faced with job-related

stress in the workplace. Further, respondents adopt more than one coping mechanisms to

combat job stress based on scenarios, situations, and level of job stress. This study is limited

only to the nurses in a public hospital.

Geraiya and Yogesh (2012) studied the anxiety and psycho-physical stress among working

and non-working women. Results revealed significant difference in anxiety and psycho

physical stress with respect to both working and non-working women. The correlation

between anxiety and psycho physical stress revealed 0.65% positive correlation.

Kaur et al. (2012) conducted a comparative study on working and non-working married

women and intended to observe whether anxiety affects life satisfaction or not. Results

revealed that there exists no significant difference between the two groups and the result

showed that anxiety and life satisfaction are experienced differently by working and non-

50
working women. It indicates that the low and high life satisfaction depends upon the level of

anxiety; the working women with low level of anxiety are higher on life satisfaction in

contrast to the non-working women. The results of the study show that females those who are

working and married, are low on anxiety with higher life satisfaction in comparison to the

non-working married females. They perceived their life as challenging and secure. They feel

comfortable with their life situations whereas the non-working married females are less

satisfied with their lives. Their anxiety level is also higher than the anxiety level of working

females.

Tripathi and Bhattacharjee (2012) studied the condition of working mothers in India. They

explained that in today‟s scenario both husband and wife has to work to create a balance in

their work life as well as at home with their children. But it is still difficult for working

mothers as she has to play multiple roles, both at office and home. This can leave working

mothers stressed and anxious and the conditions can be awful if the family is not supportive.

Moreover, in their paper, they discussed the different reasons due to which working women

feel more stressed. They found out that even when both parents are working, the

responsibility of care for sick member usually falls on the mother. Workload and anxiety are

hence, high for working mothers.

Bhadoria (2013) investigated the differences in level of anxiety and depression among

working and non-working women. The results revealed that the mean score of working

women is lower than the corresponding mean score of non-working women in level of

anxiety. Also, significant mean difference on the level of anxiety and depression exists with

respect to both working and non-working women.

Bankole (2015) in his study examined the relationship between stress, anxiety and general

life satisfaction of working mothers. The data findings revealed that there exists a significant

relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction. Moreover, it was reported that

51
there exists a significant negative relationship between anxiety and life satisfaction of

working mothers. Also, stress significantly predicted life satisfaction of working mothers.

Both stress and anxiety had significant joint prediction of life satisfaction of working

mothers. Findings were discussed in relation to existing literature on stress, anxiety and

psychological factors relating to life satisfaction of working mothers.

Chhansiya and Jogsan (2015) conducted a research on ego strength and anxiety among

working and non-working women. They intended to know the significant difference in ego

strength and anxiety between working and non-working women; and to check the relationship

between ego strength and anxiety. The study revealed that there was significant difference

between working and non-working women in the ego strength. Moreover, there was

significant difference between working and non-working women on anxiety.

2.2 Researches on Life Satisfaction among Working and Non-working Mothers

Life satisfaction of working and non-working mothers depends upon many factors. Life

satisfaction of an individual is the result of advantage situation. These situations are created

by socio-economic status, environmental conditions, marital adjustment, job satisfaction,

such as: nature of work, place of posting, salary weightage etc. Anxiety, ego weakness

frustration, guilt proneness, suspiciousness also influence adversely the life satisfaction of an

individual (Bhatt, 2013).

Nye (1963) surveyed a large regional sample of women to determine their degree of

satisfaction with income, housing, marriage, children, work, community, and recreation.

Comparisons between employed and non-employed women in these seven areas revealed no

significant differences in four domains. Only in the areas of work and community satisfaction

did working women display significantly more satisfaction than did housewives. Housewives,

on the other hand, rated their marriages as "better adjusted" than did working women.

52
Burke and Weir (1976) examined life satisfaction among wives of Canadian professional

men. Among these upper middle-class women, employment outside the home produced

greater satisfaction with life in general and with marriage in particular. Housewives in their

survey reported lower satisfaction scores and poorer mental and physical health.

A Survey of Modern Living examined self-esteem, psychological well-being, and physical

health of 389 women (206 employed outside the home and 183 homemakers). Results

indicate that working women had higher self-esteem and less psychological anxiety than

homemakers. Working women also reported better physical health than homemakers

(Coleman & Antonucci, 1976).

Ferree (1976) have argued that women with jobs outside the home are generally happier and

more satisfied with their lives than are full time housewives. However, women who worked

part-time were more satisfied than either housewives or wives who worked fulltime.

Evidence from six large national surveys conducted by the University of Michigan and the

National Opinion Research Center between 1971 and 1976 consistently failed to support this

hypothesis. It was concluded that both work outside the home and fulltime housewifery have

benefits and costs attached to them; the net result is that there is no consistent or significant

differences in patterns of life satisfaction between the two groups.

Multiple Classification Analyses on responses from 946 women explained, that full-time

homemakers are more dissatisfied with their lives than women employed outside the home.

Homemakers who had wanted a career were more personally dissatisfied than homemakers

who had never wanted a career. The career-oriented homemakers were the ones who

expressed greater personal dissatisfaction than employed women (Townsend & Patricia,

1981).

In a study of working women and fulltime-homemakers, the home-makers held more

conservative values and a more traditional view of women's roles, reported experiencing a

53
more supportive family life, expressed lower self-esteem, and were less dissatisfied than

women who work outside the home. Women who were employed outside the home rated

themselves as more aggressive, ambitious, and intelligent than did homemakers. The

discussion focused on the surprising finding that the women who work outside the home were

more dissatisfied than homemakers (Joseph & Sandvik, 1982).

Freudiger (1983) investigated the variables affecting life satisfaction in the three categories of

married women- presently, formerly and never employed. The results revealed that while

there were little differences among the three categories of married women in the overall life

satisfaction, there were significant differences in the variables that influence life satisfaction

for each category. Regression analysis revealed that variables which previous research

indicates were salient for women were most predictive of life satisfaction in never-employed

wives. Currently and formerly employed wives apparently drew on less traditional sources of

satisfaction than did never employed wives.

Chen and Lin (1992) investigated daily life demands, social support, life satisfaction and

health of working and non-working women. The results revealed that working women

experienced more daily life demands than non-working women; they however, enjoyed more

social support in dealing with these demands. Also, results showed both groups expect and

perceive themselves as actually spending more than 24 hours per day meeting their daily

demands. It is apparent, that, anxiety and stress levels for both groups were very high; even

more so for the working women. Further, the results revealed that both groups received little

instrumental support; husbands gave the most frequent support, and it appeared that spouse of

working women were more responsive and co-operative. Non-working women reported

higher levels of life satisfaction; however, both the groups appeared to be satisfied with their

overall lives.

54
A study by Maynard (1993) indicates some evidence that as the number of family

(work/family) roles increases, scores on occupational adjustment and life satisfaction tend to

increase.

Nathwat and Mathur (1993) investigated the marital adjustment and subjective wellbeing in

Indian-educated housewives and working women. Results indicated that working women had

significantly better life satisfaction and self-esteem than the housewives. Specifically,

working women reported higher scores on general health, life satisfaction and self-esteem

measures and lower scores on hopelessness, insecurity, and anxiety compared with the

housewives, although the housewives had lower scores on negative affect than the working

women.

Thakar and Misra (1995) investigated life satisfaction and patterns of daily hassles

experienced in relation to perceived-control, social support, mental health and life satisfaction

of 40 dual career-women and housewives in India. Dual-career women reported significantly

greater incidence of daily hassles but displayed a greater degree of life satisfaction than did

housewives. Older (aged 40+ yrs) dual career women from nuclear families perceived a

greater degree of control than women from joint families. Social support was shared similarly

across from joint families and across all groups.

Aminath (1996) in his study of work-family conflict among married professional women in

Malaysia reported work-family conflict and less life satisfaction among working women.

Saxena and Rani (1996) studied family and employed women in India as indicators of life

satisfaction and happiness. The sample for the study consisted of 40 employed and 40

unemployed middle class women. Life satisfaction and happiness were measured by self-

made tests of life satisfaction, perceived happiness, attribution, anxiety and family structure

by work roles compatibility. Results revealed that non-working women experienced greater

life satisfaction compared to working women and attributed their happiness to the home

55
environment and perceived happiness was higher among women from nuclear families

compared to those from joint families.

Singh (1996) reported that among women who were working out of utter economic necessity,

majority were dissatisfied with the time they spend with their children and the time they

allocate to their home. 57 percent of working women have alternate arrangements for their

children either a mother or a mother- in law or a maid to look after their children. The age of

the children is an important factor in generalizing the women‟s role conflict because a

mother‟s personal attentions are most essential when they are small. Another cause can be the

family size; working married women with larger number of family members may feel

conflict than the working married women having small family size. The other factor

associated with this is the nature of job, that is, the amount of time spent outside the house.

Rout et al. (1997) studied and demonstrated that employment has positive or neutral effects

on women‟s health. They examined whether these positive effects could also be found in

employed mothers by comparing working mothers with non-working mothers on measures of

mental health, self-esteem, and mother‟s role satisfaction. This study assessed the stress

experienced by these mothers and examines the coping strategies used by them. The working

mothers had better mental health and reported less depression than the non-working mothers.

The most frequently reported source of stress for working mothers was not having enough

time to do everything, whereas for non-working mothers, lack of social life was a major

stressor. The findings of this study support the expansion hypothesis, which emphasizes the

benefits rather than the costs of multiple role involvement.

Genia and Cooke (1998) examined the relationship between spiritual maturity and life

satisfaction in a multi-ethnic, religiously diverse sample of women who were middle-aged

and older. Life satisfaction was positively related to spiritual support and spiritual openness.

European Americans and African Americans did not differ on life satisfaction, spiritual

56
support and spiritual openness. Mean splits on the spiritual-support and spiritual-openness

scales were used to classify subjects as underdeveloped, dogmatic, transitional, and growth

oriented. Growth-oriented subjects reported greater life-satisfaction than subjects in all other

groups. No other group differences were found.

Health is one of the most important factors in life satisfaction in working women. Self-rated

overall health was associated with life satisfaction in the cross-sectional study in women

only. This gender difference confirms previous research (Nagata et al., 1999).

Agarwala (2001) studied life satisfaction among working and non-working women and

results revealed significant difference in the life satisfaction of working and non-working

women. Life-satisfaction was found to be higher among non-working women.

Kousha and Moheen (2004) explored life satisfaction among married Iranian women in urban

areas. A series of path analysis and cross tabulations suggested that for married women, life

satisfaction was directly linked to their satisfaction with marriage, employment and their

leisure experiences. For women, hour‟s satisfaction and job satisfaction indicated that women

preferred part-time jobs irrespective of whether these are small or large.

Personality plays a significant role in whether a woman will judge her life to be satisfying.

However, proximal environmental factors (e.g., recent life events) can influence life

satisfaction judgments in the short term. Both nature and nurture (i.e., personality and

environment) appear to be influential in determining life satisfaction, and to discount one

explanation in favour of the other would not be empirically or theoretically productive

(Beutell, 2006).

Hashmi et al. (2007) tried to measure the quality of life among working and nonworking

women using indirect measures like mental health, self-esteem, mother role satisfaction and

stress. The results revealed that non-working women had poorer mental health as well as the

lower self-esteem as compared to the working women. The nonworking women also reported

57
more depression. The most common stressor reported by the non-working women was poor

social life.

Shali (2007) studied life satisfaction and concluded that there is a high correlation between

feeling of security and life satisfaction. Results showed that security feeling has effect on life

satisfaction. Meanwhile, comparison of variables shows that all variables, except for feeling

of relative deprivation, have increasing effect on life satisfaction and it means that with

increasing each of them, rate of satisfaction feeling is also increased.

Booth and van Ours (2008) conducted a study on job satisfaction, family life and happiness,

different experiences for women from the British Household Panel Survey. The purpose of

the study was to measure the wellbeing by self-reported life satisfaction, working hour‟s

satisfaction and job satisfaction. The analysis finds that women with partners are most

satisfied with their job and the number of hours they work if they have a part-time job. But,

their overall satisfaction with their life was not found to be affected by the number of hours

they worked.

Jan and Masood (2008) in their study assessed life satisfaction among women. The study

depicted that women have average level of life satisfaction at all age levels. It was found that

with an increase in age, the overall life satisfaction decreases; whereas, with an increase in

personal income, the overall life satisfaction increases. Moreover, with an increase in family

income, the overall life satisfaction of women also increases.

A research was conducted on working and non-working mothers to study the impact of work

on mothers‟ health in Tehran (Iran). Personal well-being, socio-demographic, work and

work-related and social-life context variables were examined alongside a range of mental and

physical health outcome variables. Unlike in the West where women's paid work is generally

associated with better health, statistically significant differences between working and non-

working women were not found in Tehran. It is argued that this is a result of the counter-

58
balance of the positive and negative factors associated with paid work, such as increased

stress on one hand and self-esteem on the other (Ahmad, 2009).

Aroba and Khan (2011) studied life satisfaction among working and non-working women

with special reference to District Budgam. High level of general life satisfaction was found in

women at high age group, whereas average level of life satisfaction was found among the

women of low level of age group. Average level of life satisfaction was found among literate

women, whereas high level of general life satisfaction was found among illiterate women.

High level of general life satisfaction was reported among working women, whereas high

level of general life satisfaction was observed among non-working women.

Hasnain, Ansari and Sethi (2011) carried out a study on employment status of women in

relation to their self-esteem and life satisfaction. The results showed greater life satisfaction

and lower self-esteem among working women in comparison to the non-working women.

Akbari (2012) investigated the existence of stress as well as life satisfaction among working

and non-working mothers. In result, significant difference was observed in physical and

family stress among the resonance. But the role stress was found to be significantly higher

among working mothers than non-working mothers as well as life satisfaction was better

among working mothers than non-working mothers.

Luhman et al. (2012) conducted a study on life satisfaction and found that life satisfaction is

prospectively associated with the occurrence of several major events in work and family life.

They also found that higher life satisfaction is associated with a higher likelihood of marriage

and childbirth, and with a lower likelihood of marital separation, job loss, starting a new job,

and relocating. These effects held even after controlling for gender, age and socio-economic

status. Together, these findings provide evidence that life satisfaction is an important

predictor of major life outcomes.

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Jadhav and Aminabhavi (2013) studied life satisfaction of working and non-working mothers.

The results showed that the working and non-working mothers did not differ significantly

from each other in their life satisfaction. Incidentally, it was also found that age, educational

level and number of children of working and non-working mothers were not significantly

associated with their life satisfaction.

Singh (2014) studied life satisfaction and stress level among working and non-working

women. The results indicated that there was significant difference regarding life satisfaction

and stress between working and non-working women. Results revealed that working and non-

working women differed significantly on their life satisfaction. Working women were more

satisfied with their life; and non-working women have higher level stress as compared to

working women. A significant negative relationship was found between life satisfaction and

stress.

Recently, Arshad, Gull and Mahmood (2015) conducted the study to measure the life

satisfaction among working and non-working women of Faisalabad and Islamabad.

Significant difference on score of life satisfaction among working and non-working women

was reported.

2.3 Statement of the Problem

Anxiety and other psychological-related problems such as life dissatisfaction are the

unexplored areas of research in a state like Sikkim. With the constant workloads and

pressures from both the workplace and home, work-demands and work-family conflicts,

working women especially when she is a employed mother, there is an urgent need to

understand the root of the problem and ways to deal with it without being hyper-sensitive and

depressed. Moreover, it goes unnoticed about the fact that working mothers are not only

working for themselves but also working for the betterment of the family. Both working and

non-working mothers, should be given top priorities regarding their hard work, dedication,

60
sacrifice and contribution to their family in adding up the family income and as well as caring

their family and maintaining their households. There is a huge scope of the study in showing

the existence of anxiety and life dissatisfaction, and suggesting the ways to deal with the

problem.

2.4 Rationale of the Study

Sikkim, is a tiny state, wherein anxiety problems and marital and life dissatisfaction are on

the increase day by day. Anxiety is one of the most common psychological problems in

women especially among working women/mothers. Nowadays, women are involved

professionally in different fields such as business, government and private services, academic

institutions, industrial or organizational institutions and many more. Due to the increasing

demand of labour in professional services, women are also actively involved and dedicated

towards their work to serve their families and earn some income as well as self-respect and

for the purpose of having life satisfaction. Not only this, they are serving and fulfilling the

household works and necessities with full dedication. Thus, the review of related literature

reveals that the hectic schedule, both in their personal and professional life, leads to the

anxiety among women, thereby hindering their satisfaction with life especially in the case of

the working mothers.

The employment typically has positive psychological consequences for mothers either as a

primary source of well-being or as a buffer against stress and thus it can be said that due to

paid work it helps to reduce anxiety, depression in life whereas, working mothers experience

greater work related stress than non-working mothers and thus stress helps to increase

anxiety.

2.5 Aim of the Study

In the present context, there is an ample need to study particularly in traditional socio-cultural

Sikkim‟s family context, the effect of working condition of mothers in comparison with non-

61
working condition. These are mainly due to the negative atmosphere which is created by

society as well as the individual themselves. With the constant work-demands and work-

home conflicts, working mothers, especially have been falling prey to the problem of anxiety

and life dissatisfaction. Moreover, there is lack of studies on anxiety and life satisfaction

among working and non-working mothers, in the Sikkim‟s context. Thus, the present study

aims to measure the degree of anxiety and life satisfaction of working and non-working

mothers‟ and focus on the roots of the problem.

2.6 Objectives

O1: To compare the anxiety level between working and non-working mothers.

O2: To compare the life satisfaction level between working and non-working mothers.

O3: To examine whether there exist negative correlation of different dimensions of anxiety

with life satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

O4: To investigate whether anxiety has any effect on life satisfaction among working and

non-working mothers.

2.7 Hypotheses

Based upon the above objectives and related literatures, the following hypotheses were

formulated:

H1: There would be high level of anxiety among working mothers compared to non-working

mothers.

H2: Life satisfaction level would be high among non-working mothers than the working

mothers.

H3: There would be negative and significant correlation of different dimensions of anxiety

with life satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

H4: There would be significant interaction effect of low and high anxiety level on the life

satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

62
CHAPTER- III

Methodology

63
 CHAPTER- III

METHODOLOGY

Research and experimental development is format undertaken systematically to increase the

stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humanity, culture and society. It is used to

establish or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing

problems, support theorems, or develop new theories. A research project may also be an

expansion on past work in the field. To test the validity of instruments, procedures, or the

purpose of the research is to discover answers to questions through the application of

scientific procedures. The main aim of research is to find out the truth which is hidden and

which has not been discovered as yet. Though each research study has its own specific

purpose, we may think of research objectives as falling into a number of following broad

groupings:

a. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it.

b. To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group.

c. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or which it is associated with

something else.

d. To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables.

It is important to discuss the research purposes as it plays fundamental role in making

research design and deciding methodology. Approaches to research depend on

epistemologies, which vary considerably both within and between humanities and social

sciences. There are several forms of research: scientific, humanities, artistic, economic,

social, business, practitioner research etc.

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Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the problem. Essentially, the

procedures by which researchers go about their work of describing, explaining and predicting

phenomena are called research methodology. It is also defined as the study of methods by

which knowledge is gained. In it, we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a

researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them.

Researcher must design a methodology for the problem chosen for various reasons. Planning

research methodology beforehand is needed because it facilitates smooth sailing of the

various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding

maximum information and minimum expenditure of efforts, time and money. It stands for

advance planning of the methods to be adopted for collecting the relevant data and the

techniques to be used in their analysis. This work should be done with great care as any error

in it may upset the entire project. It has a great bearing on reliability of results extracted and

as such constitutes the firm foundation of the entire edifice or structure of the research work.

A good research design is often characterized by adjectives like flexible, appropriate,

efficient, economical, etc. generally the methodology which minimizes bias and maximizes

the reliability of data collected and analysed is considered to be good. It should give smallest

experimental error, yield maximum information and provide opportunity for considering

many different aspects of problem. Before deciding particular methodology, a researcher

must take some factors in consideration like-

a. The means of obtaining information.

b. The availability and skills of the researcher and her staff, if any;

c. Objective of the problem to be studied;

d. Nature of the problem and;

65
e. Availability of time and money for the project.

Other important factors in research methodology include determining of research tool

materials, sample and statistical methods. Formulating a research questions along with

sampling weather probable or non-probable is followed by measurement that includes

surveys and scaling. This is followed by research design, which may be either experimental

or quasi-experimental. The last two stages of data are data analysis and finally writing the

research paper, which is organized carefully into graphs and tables so that only relevant data

is shown. This implies that success of any research depends, to a great extent on its methods

and methodology employed. A sound research design can yield fruitful, reliable results and

conclusions. Thus, a researcher needs to pay extra attention on deciding her methodology. In

the following description, methods, design and procedures used to execute this study are

discussed.

Variables Studied

The following variables were studied in the research:

S.I. No. Name of the Variables Nature of the Variables Name of the level

1. Categories Independent Variable Working Mothers

Non-working Mothers

2. Anxiety Dependent Variable Tension

Guilt Proneness

Maturity

Suspiciousness

66
 Self-control

3. Life Satisfaction Dependent Variable Scores of Life

Satisfaction

The details of the methodological steps of the present study are as follows:

Method

3.1 Sampling Design

Sample: In the present research, sample was drawn from the population of Sikkim state

government service working and non-working mothers (i.e. graduate employees and graduate

housewives respectively) from urban areas by using purposive sampling technique. The mean

age of the respondents was 36.8 (SD = 4.07). With respect to the occupational status, the

mean age of the working mothers was 38.1 with (SD = 2.37) and mean of non-working

mothers was 35.5 (SD = 4.94).

Sample Size: The total sample size taken for the study was one hundred (100) out of which 50

samples constituted of working mothers and 50 constituted of non-working mothers.

Sample Distribution:

Category East District South District Total

(Gangtok)
(Namchi )

Working Mothers 25 25 50

Non-Working Mothers 25 25 50

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 Total 50 50 100

Sample Inclusion Criteria were as follows:

 Married-working and non-working mothers having at least one or two children.

 Respondents who were graduate or having higher educational qualification.

 Regular government service employees of Sikkim state (mothers).

 Non-working mothers who were housewives.

 Working and non-working mothers living with their spouse.

 Group B working mothers in State Health Departments of Government of Sikkim.

Sample Exclusion Criteria were as follows:

 Not willing to fully participate in responding to research questions.

 Those who were single/divorced mothers.

 Those who were suffering from psychiatric/psychological problems.

 Those working mothers who were working but in other sectors like private/government

offices, private institutions, Government/Non-Governmental Organizations, etc., other

than government sector.

 Those mothers who run the home business.

 Married-working mothers who are more than 45 years of age.

3.2 Tools Used

A number of psychological tests were administered to assess the target variables. For the

purpose of collecting personal information of the respondents, family and their socio-

economic background, a separate socio-demographic data-sheet was prepared and used in the

study before collecting data.

The following tools were used:

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1. Socio-demographic data-sheet (developed for the study)

2. State-Trait Anxiety Test (Vohra, 2001)

3. Life Satisfaction Scale (Singh & Joseph, 1971)

1. Socio-demographic Data-sheet: The Socio-demographic data sheet includes personal

details, family background and medical background of the subject. The personal details

regarding the name, age, sex, education, caste, community and religion, etc. are included.

The family history of the subject consists of type of family, marital status, educational

qualification, occupation, nature of employment, income, socio-economic status, etc.

2. State-Trait Anxiety Test (Vohra, 2001): State-Trait Anxiety Test is a scale designed and

developed by Sanjay Vohra. It is a brief and non-stressful test applicable to all and is

appropriate for use in chronological ages of 14 years and above, and throughout

adulthood. It is based upon the MAP (Multi-dimensional Assessment of Personality)

series which measures 20 personality dimensions. The State-Trait Anxiety Test (STAT)

was conceptualized as a research instrument for the study of anxiety. It is a self-report

assessment device which includes separate measures of state and trait anxiety. State

anxiety may fluctuate over time and can vary in intensity. In contrast, trait anxiety refers

to a general tendency to respond with anxiety to perceived threats in the environment.

The scale gives an accurate appraisal of anxiety level, supplementing clinical diagnosis,

and facilitating all kinds of research screening operations where very little diagnostic or

assessment time can be spent with each examinee. Out of twenty personality dimensions,

five of them are considered. They are tension, guilt proneness, maturity, suspiciousness,

and self-control. STAT measures two types of anxiety - state anxiety, or anxiety about an

event, and trait anxiety, or anxiety level as a personal characteristic. Higher scores are

positively correlated with higher levels of anxiety. The test includes 40 items which can

be rated with 3 possible answers according to different situational responses. The test-

69
 retest reliability for the 5 dimensions of anxiety computed after a lapse of 7 days and 1

month was .82 and .79 respectively. The test-retest reliability for the state and trait

anxiety was .80 and .82 respectively. The validity of the test was Gp- .86, Ma-.77, Sc-.80,

Su-.77 and Tn-.73.

The test includes 40 anxiety items which are divided into:

(i) Those which appear more covert or less obvious,

(ii) Those which refer to anxiety symptoms.

These divisions are further divided into 5 dimensions, namely;

a. Tension (Tn)

b. Guilt proneness (Gp)

c. Maturity (Ma)

d. Suspiciousness (Su)

e. Self-control (Sc)

State Anxiety: State anxiety can be defined as fear, nervousness, discomfort, etc. and the

arousal of the autonomic nervous system induced by different situations that are perceived as

dangerous. This type of anxiety refers more to how a person is feeling at the time of a

perceived threat and is considered temporary. For example: A child feels anxious when

confronted by a large and strange animal. A person feels anxious to get on an airplane and fly

somewhere for the first time.

Trait Anxiety: Trait anxiety can be defined as feelings of stress, worry, discomfort, etc. that

one experiences on a day to day basis. This is usually perceived as how people feel across

typical situations that everyone experiences on a daily basis. Examples: A child is socially

anxious in all situations and always a little on edge his childhood and into adulthood. A

70
 person is anxious in an array of different normal situations such as going to the grocery store

and going to work the majority of the time where others are usually not.

Psychological Description of the Anxiety Dimensions:

i. Tension (Tn): The person who scores high on Tn tends to be very tense, excitable,

frustrated, driven, fretful and impatient. He is often fatigued, but unable to remain

inactive. In groups, he takes a poor view of the degree of unity, orderliness and

leadership. The person who scores low on Tn tends to be sedate, relaxed, tranquil,

composed and satisfied. In some situations, however, his over-satisfaction can lead to

laziness and result in low performance, in the sense that low motivation produces little

trial and error behaviour.

ii. Guilt Proneness (Gp): The person who scores high on dimension Gp tends to be

depressed, apprehensive, troubled, moody, a worrier, full of foreboding and brooding. He

has a childlike tendency to anxiety in difficulties. The person who scores low on

dimension Gp tends to be self-assured, confident, serene, and placid, with unshakeable

nerve. He has a mature, unanxious confidence in himself and his capacity to deal with

things. High scorers generally belong to religious groups, artistes and farmers, etc.

however, Gp is low in electricians, professional athletes, and sales personnel.

iii. Maturity (Ma): The person who scores high on dimension Ma is easily affected by

feelings and tends to be low in frustration tolerance, changeable and plastic. He tends to

be fretful, easily emotional and annoyed, active in dissatisfaction, having neurotic

symptoms like phobias, sleep disturbances, psychosomatic complaints etc. Low Ma score

is common to almost all forms of neurotic and some psychotic disorders. The person who

scores low on Ma is emotionally stable, faces reality, and calm. He tends to be

emotionally mature, stable, realistic about life, unruffled, possessing ego strength, better

71
 able to maintain solid group morale. Sometimes, he may be a person marking a resigned

adjustment to unsolved emotional problems. Occupational data suggests that low scoring

individuals belong to these occupations in which the individual can set his own pace and

does not require sudden adjustments, such as clerks, writers, postmen, etc.

iv. Suspiciousness (Su): The person who scores high on Su tends to be suspicious

mistrusting, doubtful, and hard to fool. He is often involved in his own ego, is self-

opinionated and interested in internal mental life. The person who scores low on

dimension Su tends to be trusting, free of jealous tendencies, adaptable, cheerful, and un-

competitive. High scorers usually belong to scientific or engineering professions.

v. Self-control (Sc): The person who scores high on dimensions Sc will not be bothered

with will control and regard for social demands. As a personal personality dimension, Sc

appears to represent the level of development of the unconscious behaviour integrating

self-sentiment. In terms of anxiety, self-sentiment means a lowered sense of personal

worth or self-esteem. Low scoring individuals generally belong to the occupational group

of administrators and technicians, in all of whom objectivity, balance and decisiveness are

essential.

3. Life Satisfaction Scale (Singh & Joseph, 1971): Developed by Dr. Singh and Dr. Joseph,

life satisfaction scale is a tool which intends to measure the life satisfaction which includes

the all-round activities of the employees. It may be conveniently administered to the

employees of every level operating in context of industries or other non-production

organizations. The test-retest reliability computed after a lapse of 8 weeks turned out to be

0.91. The coefficient of correlation was found to be 0.83. This scale was constructed based on

following dimensions:

a) Taking pleasure in everyday activities,

72
b) Considering life meaningful,

c) Holding appositive self-image,

d) Having a happy and optimistic outlook,

e) Feeling success in achieving goals.

The scale contains of total 35 items which are to be rated on the five-point scale- Always,

Often, Sometimes, Seldom and Never and which are respectively scored as 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.

The higher the score on the life satisfaction scale, the higher will be level of the life

satisfaction. The items were prepared in both English and Hindi languages.

3.3 Procedure

The concerned authorities in the Sir Thutob Namgyal Memorial (STNM) Hospital, the State

level Government Hospital, Gangtok (East Sikkim) and Namchi District Hospital, Namchi

(South Sikkim) were contacted for permission to collect data from the respondents. The

consent was obtained from the respondents and they were briefly explained the purpose of the

research as well as the details such as the instructions of the scales used. After taking their

permission and consent, good rapport was established with the respondents. Similarly,

consent was also obtained from the non-working mothers (house wives) for the purpose of

collection of data. Specific instructions for each scale were given to the respondents. All the

participants were assured that their responses would be kept confidential and if they face any

difficulty in understanding the question, they may ask immediately to the researcher and

clarify their doubts without any hesitation. The participants provided their responses

pertaining to State-Trait Anxiety and Life Satisfaction questionnaires. Data was collected

individually from the concerned respondents along with the socio-demographic data. The

time taken by the respondents was about 20-25 minutes. Duration of the data collection by

the researcher was 2-3 months. It was a very tough task to find out the sample as it required

73
to select graduate government employee- mothers as well as graduate housewives wherein

today‟s world we hardly find graduate unemployed mothers, especially in a state like Sikkim

where the population is very low.

3.4 Statistical Techniques Used

Keeping in view the nature and objectives of the research problem, different types of

statistical techniques available were sorted out for statistical treatment. The quantization data

was analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22. For the

present study, statistical techniques like Mean, Standard Deviation and t-test were used to

measure the mean difference between the two groups. Data was also calculated by using

Regression analysis to measure the significant interaction or causal relationship between the

two variables among the two groups.

74
CHAPTER- IV

Results & Discussion

75
 CHAPTER IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the data analysis, interpretation and discussion of results with respect to

various hypotheses formulated. The present study has used the following socio-demographic

variables, they are shown in Table 4.1:

Table 4.1 Showing the Percentage of Socio-Demographic Variables of Working and Non-

working Mothers (N = 100):

S.I. Variables Categories No. of % of No. of Non- % of Non-

No. Working Working Working Working

Mothers (f) Mothers Mothers (f) Mothers

25-34 5 10% 20 40%

1. Age 35-44 45 90% 27 54%

45-54 0 0% 3 6%

Graduates 50 100% 38 76%

2. Educational Post- 0 0% 12 24%

Level Graduates

General 17 34% 25 50%

OBC 11 22% 11 22%

3. Castes SC 7 14% 3 6%

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 ST 15 30% 11 22%

Nepalis 40 80% 41 82%

Lepchas 4 8% 6 12%

Communities
4. Bhutias 6 12% 2 4%

Others 0 0% 1 2%

Hindus 26 52% 33 66%

Buddhists 18 36% 10 20%

5. Religion Christians 6 12% 7 14%

Others 0 0% 0 0%

Nuclear 44 88% 44 88%

6. Family Type Joint 6 12% 5 10%

Extended 0 0% 1 2%

a. Age level of Working and Non-working Mothers

Data presented in Table 4.1 shows that in the age group of 25-34, 10% of the samples

were working mothers and 40% were non-working mothers. 90% of samples belonged to

the age group of 35-44 which was the highest proportion of the sample of working

mothers compared with 54% of non-working mothers. In the age group of 45-54, non-

working mothers constituted of at least 6%, whereas there was not a single working

mother belonging to this age group.

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b. Educational level of Working and Non-working Mothers

In the Educational Qualification category, it can be observed from Table 4.1 that 100% of

working mothers were Graduates whereas there were 76% of non-working mothers who had

completed their graduation level. None of the working mothers were Post-Graduates whereas

24% of the non-working mother respondents were Post-graduates.

c. Caste category of Working and Non-working Mothers

In the castes category, it can be observed from Table 4.1 that General castes constituted of

34% of working mothers and 50% of non-working mothers, OBCs comprised of equal

proportion of working and non-working mothers, i.e., 22%, SCs comprised of 7% and 6% of

working and non-working mothers respectively, while STs comprised of 30% and 22% of

working and non-working mothers respectively.

d. Communities of Working and Non-working Mothers

In the Communities category (Table 4.1), 80% of working mothers and 82% of non-working

mothers belonged to Nepalis community, 8% of working and 12% of non-working mothers

belonged to Lepchas community, 12% of working and 4% of non-working mothers belonged

to Bhutias community, and 0% of working mothers and 2% of non-working mothers

belonged to the Other Castes.

e. Religion category of Working and Non-working Mothers

It can be seen from Table 4.1 that in the Religion category, 52% of working and 66% of non-

working mothers belonged to Hindu religion, while 36% of working and 20% of non-working

mothers belonged to Buddhists religion. 12% of working and 14% of non-working belonged

to Christianity religion. However, other Castes were nil in both working and non-working

mothers group.

78
f. Family type of Working and Non-working Mothers

Regarding family type, Table 4.1 shows that 88% of working and non-working mothers

belonged to nuclear family, 12% and 10% of working and non-working mothers belonged to

joint family respectively, and 0% of working mothers and 2% of non-working mothers

belonged to extended family system.

Table 4.2 Showing the Mean, Standard Deviation and t-value on State and Trait Anxiety of

Working and Non-working Mothers (N = 100):

Anxiety Score Category N Mean SD t-value P

State Anxiety Working Mothers 50 20.38 6.77

Non-Working Mothers 50 19.38 6.25 -1.54 NS

Trait Anxiety Working Mothers 50 16.32 5.43

.77 NS
Non-Working Mothers 50 18.12 6.19

79
Graph 4.1 Representing the Bar Chart of State and Trait Anxiety Mean Scores for

Working and Non-Working Mothers (N = 100):

State and Trait Anxiety Mean Scores of Working and Non-

working Mothers
25

20

15

10

0
State Anxiety Trait Anxiety
Working Mothers 20.38 16.32
Nonworking Mothers 19.38 18.12
Working Mothers Nonworking Mothers

It can be observed from Table 4.2 that the mean score of the state anxiety of working mothers

is very close and slightly high than the mean score of the Non-working mothers. The t-value

(t= -1.54) for the state anxiety is also not showing significant difference between the two

groups. It can also be observed that the mean score of trait anxiety of working mothers is

lower than the mean score of trait anxiety of non-working mothers. Moreover, the results

revealed that working mothers reported to have scored high in state anxiety than the non-

working mothers. However, the result reveals that non-working mothers have higher Trait

anxiety as compared with working mothers as shown in Table 4.2. Graph 4.1 also shows the

same trend.

The main reason for the higher level of state anxiety among working mothers may be due to

the fact that working mothers had to deal with multiple work roles, demands and pressures-

which are a harder reality for them. Tasks at their workplace, home and several other

situational stress in their daily life, limited family and social support adds to the anxiety and

80
stress among working mothers. Thus, greater exposures to hardness of reality tend to increase

the amount of situational anxiety in the working mothers. On the other hand, non-working

mothers are concerned with their domestic field only. They have enough time for their

family. So, they have less scope to deal with external stressful situation. However, their

monotonous daily activities in their life and lack of social life and leisure time for oneself

may be one of the main reasons for the high level of trait anxiety among non-working

mothers or the “home-makers”. Their single role creates less pressure in their life and

situation and therefore state anxiety is less prominent than employed mothers. This finding is

also supported by the study of Hoffman (1986), and Kessler and MacRae (1982). Their study

also reveals that there is very low mean difference of both state and trait anxiety scores

between the two groups. Thus, it can be assumed that there is no significant difference in

State and Trait Anxiety among working and non-working mothers of Sikkim. Both State and

Trait anxieties were more prominent in case of non-working mothers than in the mothers who

were working professionally. That might be due to the fact that employed mothers expressed

greater feeling of inadequacy and exhibit higher levels of guilt and anxiety about their roles

(Field, 1964).

Table 4.3 Showing the Mean, Standard Deviation and t-value of Overall Anxiety Mean

Scores of Working and Non-working Mothers (N = 100):

Category N Mean SD t Df P

Working Mothers 50 36.88 10.61

0.37 98 NS

81
Non-working Mothers 50 37.66 10.27

Graph 4.2 Representing the Bar Chart of Overall Anxiety Mean Scores for Working and

Non-Working Mothers (N = 100):

Overall Anxiety Mean Scores of Working and Non-working

Mothers
37.8

37.6

37.4

37.2

37

36.8

36.6

36.4
Overall Anxiety
Working Mothers 36.88
Non-working Mothers 37.66
Working Mothers Non-working Mothers

Table 4.3 reveals that t-value (t = 0.37) is not significant which shows that the working and

non-working mothers did not differ significantly on overall anxiety level. It shows that

whether the woman is working or non-working, she faces anxiety. Though there exists no

significant difference between working and non-working mothers on anxiety, the mean score

shows that non-working mothers have slightly more anxiety than the working mothers.

However, both working and non-working mothers are showing high level of anxiety. Graph

4.2 also shows the same trend. One of the possible reasons for this could be that working

82
mother bears dual role responsibility- one in family and other at job, and when she cannot

discharge her duties equally efficiently, feels tense and continuous tension creates stress and

anxiety. Psycho-social factors and work-family conflict may generate irritation, frustration,

anxiety, depression etc. in working mothers. Working mothers may also face difficulties in

attempting to fulfil the demands of both worlds. In the case of non-working mother, she also

has a lot of reasons of being anxious for example; one of the reason could be a lot of

domestic chores since 90% of the respondents were from nuclear family where they have do

all types of domestic works. Other reasons for high level of anxiety could be non-working

mother‟s guilty feeling as she is unable to help her husband financially.

Other reasons of anxiety in non-working mothers may be their familial and social status, low

control at home and their involvement in limited number of roles. Women in our society have

more household responsibilities, face domestic conflicts, abusive relationships, and enjoy less

privilege, less rights, less social and economic freedom. They lack the ability to escape their

captors due to social and cultural pressures and rarely get an opportunity for dissipating their

stress. All these may cause anxiety for these groups of mothers.

Thus, it can be concluded that both working and non-working mothers reported anxiety

Hypothesis 1 which states that “there would be high level of anxiety among working mothers

compared to non-working mothers”, is therefore, not accepted.

Table 4.4 Showing the Mean, SD and Correlation Values of Different Dimensions Anxiety

and Life Satisfaction of Working and Non-working Mothers (N=100):

SI. Dimensions of Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 Life

No Anxiety Satisfaction

83
1. Guilt 10.14 3.79 1 .37** .52** .23* .46** -.27**

Proneness

2. Maturity 6.29 1.95 - 1 .51** .22** .25* -.26*

3. Self-control 6.26 2.96 - - 1 .35** .47** -.38**

4. Suspiciousness 3.90 1.54 - - - 1 .20 -.06

5. Tension 10.68 4.06 - - - - 1 -.21

6. Life 133.2 13.64 - - - - - 1

Satisfaction

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Correlation is significant at 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Table 4.4 reveals that Guilt Proneness was found to be significantly correlated with Maturity

(.37), Self-control (.52), and Tension (.46) at .01 level; and with Suspiciousness (.23) at .05

level. Maturity was significantly correlated with Self-control (.51), Suspiciousness (.22) at

.01 level and with Tension (.25) at .05 level. Self-control was found to be significantly

correlated with Suspiciousness (.35), and with Tension (.47) at .01 level. Suspiciousness was

found to be significantly correlated with Tension (.21) at .05 level. It can also be seen from

Table 4.4 that life satisfaction has negative and significant correlation with different

dimensions of anxiety, i.e. Guilt Proneness (-.27), Maturity (-.26), Self-control (-.38) and

Tension (-.22). However, there exists no significant correlation of Life Satisfaction with

Suspiciousness (-.07).

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Table 4.5 Showing Mean, SD and T Value of Different Dimensions of Anxiety of Working

and Non-working Mothers (N = 100):

S.I. No. Dimensions Sample N Mean SD t P

Sig./NS

1. Guilt Working Mothers 50 9.56 3.45

Proneness
-1.53 NS
Non-Working 50 10.72 4.05

Mothers

2. Maturity Working Mothers 50 6.48 1.99

Non-working 50 6.10 1.90 .97 NS

Mothers

3. Self-Control Working Mothers 50 6.16 3.13

Non-working 50 6.36 2.81 -.33 NS

Mothers

4. Suspiciousness Working Mothers 50 3.98 1.36

.51 NS
Non-working 50 3.82 1.71

Mothers

5. Tension Working Mothers 50 10.70 4.28

85
 Non-working 50 10.60 3.87 .049 NS

Mothers

Graph 4.3 Showing the Mean Scores on Different Dimensions of Anxiety of Working &

Non-Working Mothers (N=100):

40

35

30

25

20

Working
15
Mothers

10

0
Guilt Self- Suspi
Matu Tensi Trait State Total
Prone contr cious
rity on Score Score Score
ness ol ness
Working Mothers 9.56 6.48 6.16 3.98 10.7 16.32 20.38 36.8
Non-working mothers 10.72 6.1 6.36 3.82 10.6 18.12 19.38 37.6

From Table 4.5, the result obtained for different dimensions of anxiety among working and

non-working mothers are interpreted and discussed. In terms of guilt proneness, the mean

score of non-working mothers is higher than the mean score of working mothers which

suggest that non-working mothers feel often guilty of failure regarding their unsuccessful

career. This may be due to their unfulfilled aspirations and dreams which make them prone to

guilt, whereas working mothers were lesser concerned with their feelings of guilt, as they are

successful women in personal as well as professional lives. However, there exists no

86
significant difference in guilt proneness among both the groups. In terms of maturity, the

mean score of working mothers is higher than the non-working mothers which suggest that

working mothers have high maturity level and understanding, are realistic about life and are

always ready to face tough situations in their lives in comparison with the non-working

mothers. However, there exists no significant difference in maturity among both the groups.

In terms of self-control, the mean score of working mothers is slightly higher than the non-

working mothers though there exist no significant difference. Working mothers are usually

very strong-hearted and are able to control their emotions in most of the situations as

compared to non-working mothers. In terms of suspiciousness, the mean score of working

mothers is slightly higher than the non-working mothers. It can be suggested that working

mothers are self-opinionated, deliberate in their own actions, unconcerned about what other

people think about them, mistrusting and suspicious. Though there is no significant

difference, so it can be said that the working mothers and non-working mothers do not differ

much in suspiciousness dimension. In terms of tension, the mean score of non-working

mothers is almost close to the mean score of working mothers though there is no significant

difference. This suggests that both working and non-working mothers are prone to tension in

their own ways. Thus, the result indicates that working and non-working mothers do not

differ much in Tension dimension. Graph 4.3 also shows the same trend.

Interpretation of mean scores of different dimensions of anxiety:

1. Guilt Proneness: High scores on guilt proneness indicate that the person tends to be

depressed, guilty, apprehensive, moody, a worrier, full of foreboding and brooding. He

does not feel accepted or free to participate in groups.

87
2. Maturity: High scores on maturity indicate that the person is emotionally stable, faces

reality and stays calm. He tends to be stable, possess ego strength and is able to maintain

solid group morale.

3. Self-control: High scores on self-control indicate that the person tends to control his

emotions and general behaviour. He is inclined to be socially aware and careful and gives

evidence of what is commonly termed as “self-respect” and regard for social reputation.

4. Suspiciousness: High scores on suspiciousness indicate that the person tends to be over-

suspicious, mistrusting, doubtful and hard to fool. He is often involved in his own ego, is

self-opinionated and interested in internal, mental life.

5. Tension: High scores on tension indicate that the person tends to be very impatient, tense,

excitable, and frustrated. He is often fatigued and in groups, he takes a poor view of the

degree of unity, orderliness and leadership.

Table 4.6 Showing the Mean, SD and t-value of Life Satisfaction of Working and Non-

Working Mothers (N = 100):

Category N Mean SD t P

Working Mothers 50 137.04 14.77

Non-working Mothers 50 129.38 11.29 2.91 Significant

Graph 4.4 Showing the Mean Scores on Life Satisfaction of Working & Non-Working

Mothers (N=100):

88
 Life Satisfaction Mean Scores of Working and Non-working
Mothers
138

136

134

132

130

128

126

124
Life Satisfaction
Working Mothers 137.04
Non-working Mothers 129.38
Working Mothers Non-working Mothers

The results from Table 4.6 indicate that the mean score on life satisfaction of working

mothers is higher than the non-working mothers. The t-value (t = 2.91) also signifies that

there exists significant difference on life satisfaction among working and non-working

mothers. The working mothers were found to be highly satisfied with their life as compared

to non-working mothers. It seems that, the working mothers have positive attitude towards

life and try to develop healthy patterns of adjustment and capacity to deal with different and

tough situations throughout their lives. The working mothers are also aware of their right of

autonomy and decision-making that strengthen their behaviour and empower their

satisfaction towards life. Moreover, the working mothers often seem to be emotionally sound,

patient, cooperative, and deal with stressors appropriately than that of the non-working

mothers. This finding is strongly supported by Kaur et al., (2012) who concluded in their

study that females those who are working and married, are low on anxiety with higher life

satisfaction. They perceived their life as challenging and secure. They felt comfortable with

their life situations. Whereas, the non-working married females were found to be less

89
satisfied with their lives and their anxiety level was reported to be higher than the anxiety

level of working females. Graph 4.4 also shows the same trend.

Therefore, from the above result, the Hypothesis 2 which states that “Life satisfaction level

would be high among non-working mothers than the working mothers” is not accepted.

Table 4.7 Showing Coefficient of Correlation among Different Dimensions of Anxiety and

Life Satisfaction of Working and Non-working Mothers (N=100):

Sl. No. Variables Life Satisfaction

1. Guilt Proneness -.260**

2. Maturity -.251*

3. Self-control -.377*

4. Suspiciousness -.069

5. Tension -.215*

6. Overall Anxiety level -.344**

* Correlation is significant at .05 level.

**Correlation is significant at .01 level.

From Table 4.7, the correlation result shows that guilt proneness, maturity, self-control and

tension are negatively and significantly correlated with life satisfaction. Suspiciousness, on

the other hand, showed negative and insignificant correlation with life satisfaction. Anxiety

was found to be negatively and significantly correlated with life satisfaction. Hypothesis 3

which states that “there would be negative correlation of different dimensions of anxiety with

life satisfaction among working and non-working mothers” is therefore, accepted.

90
This result suggests that as anxiety level increases, life satisfaction is decreased. This result is

supported by Kaur et al., (2012) who concluded from their study that females those who are

working and married, are low on anxiety with higher life satisfaction in comparison to the

non-working married females. They perceived their life as challenging and secure. They felt

comfortable with their life situations. Whereas, the non-working married females were found

to be less satisfied with their lives and their anxiety level was reported to be higher than the

anxiety level of working females. Thus, it can be concluded that non-working mothers show

more anxiety compared to working mothers.

There is anecdotal evidence that housewives frequently complain about the monotony of their

lives. They felt that they have to look after children and do all housework and they do not

have time for themselves. Compared to the working women, their social environment is

limited. Their husbands are the only ones to appreciate their intense efforts they make for

their homes. A woman, for instance, with six children and a husband, and with no help from

others and no money for the most costly labour-saving devices, simply cannot organize her

necessary duties so that she will have leisure for pleasure and activities outside the daily

routine. In such a house, the most modest requirements for food, shelter and clothing become

a driving force that pushes aside relentlessly any irrelevant longing. The working women,

however, have the chance of being appreciated by the society and behave independently

and earn for their living and contribute to family income equally. On the other hand, many

working women find that children provide a common focus of interest for them and their

husbands and many of them feel that the time devoted to children resulted in less sharing and

companionship and less spontaneity in marital relationship. The problems and difficulties of

working women are multidimensional and may be broadly classified into three types

environmental, social and psychological. Joining the business life outside home is an extra

91
burden for women who have already been responsible for baby, sitting (child rearing) and

other household chores. From this aspect, working, women are expected to have more

psychological symptoms.

Linear regression analysis was also calculated to measure the causal or significant interaction

effect of anxiety with life satisfaction.

Table 4.8 Showing the R and Significant Values of Anxiety with Life Satisfaction among

Working Mothers (N = 50):

Model Sum of Squares Df R R Square F Sig./N.S.

(R2)

Regression 3138.50 1 .54 .29 19.91 .000

Residual 7563.41 48 - - - -

Total 10701.92 49 - - - -

Table 4.8 presents the regression model, in which anxiety is a constant or an independent

variable so as to predict life satisfaction, while life satisfaction is a dependent variable.

Table 4.9 Showing the Correlation Coefficients of Anxiety as an Independent Variable:

Model Unstandardized coefficients Standardized t Sig.

coefficients

B Std. error Beta

(Constant) 168.84 6.48 - 25.44 .000

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 Anxiety -.75 .17 -.54 -4.46 .000

The findings from data analysis in Table 4.9 indicates that anxiety was found to have no

significant interaction effect on the life satisfaction amongst both the working and non-

working mothers. Thus, from Table 4.9, it can be concluded that as the anxiety increases

among working mothers, life satisfaction may not always be affected. Working mother faces

stress and anxiety, not so much in the workplace but at home. The mother may feel guilty for

living her children at home/school and her husband at office while she is at her office and

tries to make it up by being a “supermom”. This only increases their stress and anxiety levels

when they realize that they cannot do multiple chores at a short period of time, thereby

anxiety comes in relation with general life satisfaction.

Table 4.10 Showing the R Values and Significant Values of Anxiety of Non-working

Mothers (N= 50):

Model Sum of Squares df R R Square F Sig.

Regression 12.45 1 0.45a .002 .096 .758b

Residual 6239.32 48 - - - -

Total 6251.78 49 - - - -

The findings from Table 4.10 show that anxiety has no significant relationship with life

satisfaction. It can be concluded that anxiety does not significantly predict life satisfaction

among non-working mothers. Thus, Hypothesis 4 which states that “There would be

significant interaction effect of low and high anxiety level on the life satisfaction among

working and non-working mothers” is not accepted.

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CHAPTER- V

Summary, Conclusions &

Suggestions

94
 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

The role of women in the society is constantly questioned and for centuries, women have

struggled to find their place in a predominantly male-oriented world. Literature provides a

porthole into the lives, thoughts and actions of women during certain periods of time in a

fictitious form, yet often truthful in many ways. Woman has a great part to play in the

progress of our country, as the mental and physical contact of women with life is much more

lasting and comprehensive than that of men. In the apron-string of women is hidden the

revolutionary energy, which can establish paradise on this earth. Woman is the magnificent

creation of God, a multi-faceted personality with the power of benevolence, adjustability,

integrity and tolerance. She is a companion of man, gifted with equal mental faculty, a

protector and a provider, the embodiment of love and affection. The role specified to women

in a society is a measuring bar and it is a true index of its civilization and cultural attainment.

First of all, it is clear that a woman‟s place, just like a man‟s is in the home.

Women have started to reach the highest places and to occupy the scariest and most exciting

positions of power within society. At the same time, they have continued to stay home and

have children. It is really a matter of individual choice. Women‟s place should not be

confined within the house because they have much more to offer to society. Women got the

reputation of being housebound creatures though there is no fault of their own; they were

repressed on every level. They were forced to wear certain dress code, their education was

severely hampered, shortened and they were simply traded off in strategic marriages of

convenience. Woman now believes that a successful career is the key to financial and social

life. Obviously, the lives women live today are much different than they were before. Today,

there are several roles women may choose to fulfill/carry out. Today, most of the married

95
women are working. They are expanding their lives to include a career; and side by side,

maintaining their traditional roles at home. This combination of housework and career-work

is the reason why working mothers today have more stress than working fathers.

In the present context, there is an ample need to study particularly in traditional socio-cultural

Sikkim‟s family context, the effect of working condition of mothers in comparison with non-

working condition. These are mainly due to the negative atmosphere which is created by

society as well as the individual themselves. With the constant work-demands and work-

home conflicts, working mothers, especially have been falling prey to the problem of anxiety

and life dissatisfaction. Moreover, there is lack of studies on anxiety and life satisfaction

among working and non-working mothers, in the Sikkim‟s context. Thus, the present study

aims to measure the degree of anxiety and life satisfaction of working and non-working

mothers and focus on the roots of the problem.

5.1 Objectives

O1: To compare the anxiety level between working and non-working mothers.

O2: To compare the life satisfaction level between working and non-working mothers.

O3: To examine whether there exist negative correlation of different dimensions of anxiety

with life satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

O4: To investigate whether anxiety has any effect on life satisfaction among working and

non-working mothers.

5.2 Hypotheses

Based upon the above objectives and related literatures, the following hypotheses were

formulated:

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H1: There would be high level of anxiety among working mothers compared to non-working

mothers.

H2: Life satisfaction level would be high among non-working mothers than the working

mothers.

H3: There would be negative and significant correlation of different dimensions of anxiety

with life satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

H4: There would be significant interaction effect of low and high anxiety level on the life

satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

5.3 Sample

The total sample size taken for the study was one hundred (100) out of which 50 samples

constituted of Sikkim state government service Grade B working mothers (graduate

employees) and 50 constituted of non-working mothers (graduate house wives). The sample

was drawn from urban areas by using purposive sampling technique.

5.4 Tools

The following tests were used in the present study to collect the required information from

the subjects:

1. Socio-demographic data-sheet (developed)

2. State-Trait Anxiety Test (Vohra, 2001)

3. Life Satisfaction Scale (Singh & Joseph, 1971)

5.5 Analyses

The obtained data were analysed by applying appropriate statistical techniques such as Mean,

Standard Deviation and t-test were used to measure the mean difference between the two

97
groups. Data was also calculated by using Regression analysis to measure the significant

interaction or causal relationship between the two variables among the two groups.

5.6 Results

Based on the results, the following major findings are mentioned:

1. There existed no significant difference on the level of anxiety among working and non-

working mothers. However, the mean anxiety level among both working mothers and the

non-working mothers was found to be high.

2. There existed no significant difference on life satisfaction level among working and non-

working mothers. However, mean score on life satisfaction level was higher among

working mothers than the non-working mothers.

3. There existed negative and insignificant correlation between different dimensions of

anxiety and life satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

4. There existed no significant interaction effect of low and high anxiety level on the life

satisfaction among working and non-working mothers.

5.7 Conclusions

1. Anxiety was found in both working and non-working mothers regardless of their

occupational status. Mean scores showed high trend of State Anxiety among working

mothers than the non-working mothers. Mean scores showed high level of Trait Anxiety

among non-working mothers as compared with their counterparts. However, no

significant difference was observed in State and Trait Anxiety among both working and

non-working mothers.

2. Findings indicated that both working and non-working mothers have high level of overall

anxiety. However, there exists no significant difference in total anxiety level of both

working and non-working mothers.

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3. With regard to the dimensions of anxiety and its relationship with Life satisfaction, Guilt

Proneness was found to be significantly correlated with maturity, self-control, and

tension; and suspiciousness. Maturity was significantly correlated with Self-control,

Suspiciousness and with Tension. Self-control was found to be significantly correlated

with Suspiciousness, and with Tension. Suspiciousness was found to be significantly

correlated with Tension. Life satisfaction has negative and significant correlation with

different dimensions of anxiety, i.e. Guilt Proneness, Maturity, Self-control and Tension.

However, there exists no significant correlation of Life Satisfaction with Suspiciousness.

4. In terms of Guilt Proneness, the mean score of non-working mothers is higher than the

mean score of working mothers which suggest that non-working mothers feels often

guilty of failure regarding their unsuccessful career. This may be due to their unfulfilled

aspirations and dreams which make them prone to guilt, whereas working mothers are

lesser concerned with their feelings of guilt, as they are successful women in personal as

well as professional lives. However, there exists no significant difference in Guilt

Proneness among the both groups. In terms of Maturity, the mean score of working

mothers is higher than the non-working mothers, which suggests that working mothers

have high maturity level and understanding, are realistic about life and are always ready

to face tough situations in their lives in comparison with the non-working mothers.

However, there exists no significant difference in Maturity. In terms of Self-control, the

mean score of working mothers is slightly higher than the non-working mothers though

there exists no significant difference. Working mothers are usually very strong-hearted

and are able to control their emotions in most of the situations as compared to non-

working mothers. In terms of Suspiciousness, the mean score of working mothers is

slightly higher than the non-working mothers. It suggest that working mothers are self-

opinionated, deliberate in their own actions, unconcerned about what other people think

99
 about them, mistrusting and suspicious. Though there is no significant difference, it can

be said that the working mothers and non-working mothers do not differ much in

Suspiciousness dimension. In terms of Tension, the mean score of non-working mothers

is almost close to the mean score of working mothers though there is no significant

difference. It suggests that both working and non-working mothers are prone to tension in

their own ways. Thus, the result indicates that working and non-working mothers do not

differ much in Tension dimension.

5. The mean score on life satisfaction of working mothers was found to be higher than the

non-working mothers. Significant difference was observed on life satisfaction among

working and non-working mothers. The working mothers were found to be highly

satisfied with their life as compared to non-working mothers. It seems that, in Sikkim‟s

socio-cultural context, the working mothers have positive attitude towards life and try to

develop healthy patterns of adjustment and capacity to deal with different and tough

situations throughout their lives. This finding is strongly supported by a study of Kaur et

al. (2012) who concluded in their study that females those who are working and married,

are low on anxiety with higher life satisfaction. They perceived their life as challenging

and secure. They felt comfortable with their life situations. Therefore, from the above

result, the hypothesis 2 which states that “Life satisfaction would be high among non-

working mothers” is not accepted.

6. The correlation result of anxiety dimensions with life satisfaction reveals that Guilt

Proneness, Maturity, Self-control and Tension are negatively and significantly correlated

with Life Satisfaction. Suspiciousness, on the other hand, showed negative but no

significant correlation with Life Satisfaction. Anxiety was found to be negatively and

significantly correlated with Life Satisfaction. Hypothesis 3 which states that “there

would be negative correlation of different dimensions of anxiety with life satisfaction

100
 among working and non-working mothers” is therefore, accepted. Anxiety showed a

significant and negative correlation with life satisfaction. This suggests that as anxiety

level increases, life satisfaction is decreased. This result is supported by Kaur et al.,

(2012) who concluded from their study that females those who are working and married,

are low on anxiety with higher life satisfaction in comparison to the non-working married

females.

7. Significant interaction effect of anxiety with life satisfaction: After regression analysis of

anxiety with life satisfaction, anxiety was found to have no significant interaction effect

on the life satisfaction amongst both the working and non-working mothers. Therefore, it

can be concluded that as the anxiety increases among working mothers, life satisfaction

may not always be affected. Working mother faces stress and anxiety, not so much in the

workplace but at home. The mother may feel guilty for living her children at home/school

and her husband at office while she is at her office and tries to make it up by being a

“supermom”. This only increases their stress and anxiety levels when they realize that

they cannot do multiple chores at a short period of time, thereby anxiety comes in relation

with general life satisfaction.

8. Anxiety of non-working mothers: The findings showed that anxiety has no significant

relationship with life satisfaction. It can be concluded that anxiety does not significantly

predict life satisfaction among non-working mothers. Thus, Hypothesis 4 which states

that “there will be significant interaction effect of anxiety upon life satisfaction” is not

accepted.

5.8 Limitations

The conclusion of the study would not be complete without the mention of its limitations.

The following limitations may be considered:

101
1. The sample being available purposive sample, results cannot be generalised to the entire

population of married working and non-working mothers of Sikkim.

2. The study was confined to the Group B government employees of health department only,

which restricts the generalization to this group only.

3. It was not possible to include very large sample of working and non-working mothers

covering all four districts of Sikkim due to time constraints.

4. The whole study is confined to educated mothers (graduates and above), and therefore,

illiterate or less qualified mothers doing manual work are not included in the study.

5. Since this study was also confined to government jobs only, so working mothers engaged

in private jobs have not been included.

6. Therefore, the results of this study cannot be applicable to those groups.

However, in spite of all the limitations, the present work adds an important milestone to the

existing literature and would serve as a link between the prevailing notions and future

knowledge. Besides, it opens up new possibilities for future research.

5.9 Suggestions for Future Research

Research in any branch of human knowledge is never a closed book. There is always a

persistent need for finding solutions to the other problems. There is no piece of meaningful

research that does not provide clues for further investigation. The present study opens up

certain avenues for further research which are briefly listed in the following:

1. This type of research can also be extended to all the districts of Sikkim as well as other

North-east states of India, so that a clear picture about the working and non-working

mothers may emerge.

2. Further research can be conducted to increase the applicability of the present research and

provide useful knowledge and interventions for daily life-problems.

102
3. Increase in the sample size and variability in sample inclusion criteria may be helpful in

increasing the reliability of research.

4. Studies may also be extended to other professions to give better understanding of the

position of working mothers in general.

5. A more detailed study into the problems of working mothers in independent occupations

may also be undertaken.

6. Similar family studies may also be useful to learn about the 'coping mechanisms adopted

in 'dual-career families' to make it a success.

7. A study may be undertaken to include the uneducated employed mothers.

8. Future studies can also focus on working and non-working mothers from both rural and

urban settings of Sikkim.

9. A qualitative approach can be adopted to study psychological strengths, and significant

conclusions can be derived from subjective accounts of meaningful experiences.

103
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APPENDICES

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 APPENDIX - A

PERSONAL DATA SHEET

Name
Age
Educational
Qualification

Gender (Put a tick Male Female

Mark)

Caste (Put a tick General OBC SC ST Other

Mark)

Community (Put Nepali Lepcha Bhutia Any Other

a tick Mark)

Religion (Put a
Hindu Buddhist Christian Any Other
tick Mark)

Nuclear Joint Extended Others (Specify)

Family Type:

ABOUT FAMILY:

Sl. Relation with Sex Marital Age Education Occupation Income

No. Respondent Status (Per
month)

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 APPENDIX - B

STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY TEST

Instructions

This is a questionnaire of your attitudes-what you do, or how you feel about certain

situations. There are no “Right” or “Wrong” answers as such. There are three possible

answers to each question. You may answer either “Yes” or “No”/ “A” or “B”, by marking a

(X) in the appropriate box. Mark the last answer or “C” only when it is impossible to answer

“Yes” or “No”. The following are the questions:

1. If my boss called me in his room, I would: A) be afraid I had done something wrong, B)

make it a chance to ask for something I want, C) get confused.

2. If friends or neighbours treat me badly and show they dislike me: A) I tend to get

downhearted, B) it does not upset me a bit, C) cannot decide.

3. If I know that operation is being done on an animal (for a good reason), it does not upset

me. A) true, I treat it as a common-sense matter, B) false, it gives me horrors, C) uncertain.

4. Even if people think poorly of me, I still go on feeling O.K. about myself.

5. I have a feeling that my friends don‟t need me so much as I need them.

6. I get upset when people criticise me, even if they really mean to help me.

7. When the time comes to do something I have planned and looked forward to, I don‟t feel

up to doing it.

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 APPENDIX - B

8. I seldom get so excited that I say things I am sorry for. A) true, I don‟t, B) false, I do say

such things, C) uncertain. v

9. My mood and efficiency are generally not affected by the changes in the weather.

10. My actions get influenced while experiencing feelings of jealousy.

11. In an argument, I: A) make sure what I say is right, B) say what I feel like saying, C)

can‟t decide.

12. I always believe in doing the socially acceptable things and to ask how my actions look to
others.

13. If I am left out by my friends, I: A) make a fuss out of it, B) take it calmly, C) uncertain.

14. People who brag or show they think too much of themselves, irritate me a lot, A) yes,
always. B) No, hardly ever. C) Sometimes.

15. I don‟t get worked up or show my emotions in my voice as much as most people do.

16. I just can‟t stand those people, who talk nonsense.

17. I get irritated over small setbacks very easily.

18. While playing a game, it doesn‟t irritate me if others pass their comments.

A) true, it doesn‟t, B) false, it does. C) Sometimes.

19. People seem to get in my way and frustrate me a lot.

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 APPENDIX - B

20. I feel restless as if I want something but do not know what.

21. I get depressed if I think seriously about my responsibilities.

22. I rarely lie awake because of unhappy, disturbing ideas.

23. I feel grouchy and just don‟t want to see people.

24. Even in the middle of social groups, I sometimes feel lonely and worthless.

25. My spirits stay high no matter how many troubles I seem to have.

26. I sometimes get feeling of guilt or regret over small matters.

27. Thunder and lightning hardly ever upset me. A) true, they don‟t. B) false, they do. C)
sometimes.

28. In a dark house, I cannot control my fears.

29. I see many emotional dreams that leave me disturbed when I wake up.

30. I have trained myself to be very patient with people.

31. I use more energy than most people in getting things done because I get tense and
nervous.

32. No matter how difficult and unpleasant the snags are, I always stick to my original plan.

33. I get over-excited in upsetting situations.

34. If I make a silly mistake, I soon forget it.

35. Most people would try to get away with as much as they could if they were not afraid of
being caught.

36. The noise of a nail on a glass, and similar screechy sounds, set my nerves on edge. A)
unbearably, B) not at all, C) somewhat.

37. When something makes me furious, I calm down again quite quickly.

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 APPENDIX - B
38. I usually fall asleep quickly, in just a few minutes when I go to bed.

39. I sometimes get confused and tense as I think over things.

40. I often tremble or perspire when I think of a difficult task ahead.

Gp= Ma= Sc= Su= Tn= Total=

127
 APPENDIX- C

LIFE SATISFACTION SCALE

Instructions:

This is a questionnaire of 35 statements related to day-to-day life is given. You are requested
to read each statement carefully and also see to what extent that statement is applicable in
your case and tick the one which you feel suits your choice. For indicating the degree of
applicability a five-point scale- Always, Often, Sometimes, Seldom (Rarely) and Never is
given against each statement below:

Statements Always Often Sometimes Seldom Never

1. I set realistic goals for myself.

2. I, on the whole, enjoy my life.

3. I enjoy whatever I do.

4. I enjoy the way I live.

5. I believe life is for living.

6. I am satisfied with the work I do.

7. I feel that I am a successful person.

8. I obtain pleasure from domestic affairs.

9. I feel proud in the success of my children.

10. I love to get myself involved in leisure activities.

11. I feel happy when I achieve my goals.

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 APPENDIX - C

12. I am very much optimistic about my future.

13. I consider my job as less as demanding and more congenial.

14. I think I am a self-made man.

15. I set priorities by planning the day.

16. I enjoy taking part in social activities.

17. I devote some time to community activities.

18. Money making is not the only motto of my life.

19. I want to make use of my skills to improve the quality of life.

20. I want to raise my standard of living.

21. I take life as it comes.

22. I think I am capable of fulfilling demands of my life.

23. I feel, I have a healthy sense of self.

24. I hold optimistic attitude towards life.

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 APPENDIX - C

25. I maintain self-respect in different roles.

26. I understand my strength and weaknesses.

27. I believe in self-help and self-sufficiency.

28. I have a lot of control over my life.

29. I never leave a job unfinished.

30. I am interested in sports activities.

31. I can solve my problems effectively.

32. I derive satisfaction from whatever I do.

33. I believe I am a healthy person.

34. I can face unanticipated hardships.

35. I feel I am a courageous person.

130