Women are Less Stressed at Work: Study

Women are more stressed at home than at work, according to a study.

Past survey reports suggest that majority of the workforce in the U.S. are stressed and depressed. Working mothers are more likely to crack under the pressure of balancing home environment and professional demands. Recently, Pennsylvania State University researchers found a notable proportion of women felt more stressed on non-working days than on work-days. For their study, experts tested the levels of cortisol hormones that are biomarkers of stress in the saliva samples of 122 people, collected six times daily for three days, reports the Daily Digest.

They noted the saliva samples contained less corstisol when the  participants were at work than at home thus debunking the notion people are mostly stressed in the work environment. It was observed that working individuals had better mental and physical health compared to those who were not working. This was especially seen among women of 45 who worked consistently in their twenties and thirties than their non-working or stay-at home peers.

"Further contradicting conventional wisdom, we found that women as well as men have lower levels of stress at work than at home. In fact, women may get more renewal from work than men, because unlike men, they report themselves happier at work than at home. It is men, not women, who report being happier at home than at work," writes Sarah Damaske, study author and assistant professor of Labor and Employment Relations at the Pennsylvania State University, in the news release.

In addition, the study found that working parents,of all age groups and economic status experienced more relaxation at work than at home. The authors explain women engage in daily cleaning chores like doing the dishes and cooking after they come home from work. Although men would have worked for longer durations than women, their daily cleaning and cooking activities can increase stress at home. Family conflicts and disturbances in personal relation were cited as other factors influencing the mental well being of people when at home and work.

"Our findings suggest telling people to quit or cut back on work in order to resolve their work-family conflicts may not be the best long-run advice. Rather, companies should consider adopting family friendly policies that allow workers to continue getting the health benefits of employment while still being able to meet their family responsibilities," said Damaske.

More information is available online in the Journal of Science and Medicine.