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Stress in two‐earner couples and stage in the life‐cycle
Author(s) -
LEWIS SUZAN N. C.,
COOPER CARY L.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of occupational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.257
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 2044-8325
pISSN - 0305-8107
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8325.1987.tb00261.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , stress (linguistics) , style (visual arts) , life style , multivariate analysis , social psychology , medicine , applied psychology , history , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology
This study examines some sources and manifestations of stress in two‐earner couples at different life‐stages. In all, 152 couples, who were parents, non‐parents or transitional between these two stages, participated in the study. There was little evidence that couples expecting their first child and intending to resume a two‐earner life‐style experienced anticipatory stress. Parents, especially mothers, experienced more pressures than non‐parents, but the negative impact of parenthood on well‐being was greater for fathers. Using multivariate analysis it was found that organizational, extra‐organizational and individual difference factors were associated with stress for all couples, but that different pressures were paramount for parents and non‐parents. Implications for practice and for future research in the area are discussed.