SATISFACTION
The issue isn't whether women work or nd But whether they actively
engage in a number of roles and enjoy them all. All if they experience
psychological and physical well-being--and possibly even a few extra
years of life.
When Cornell University researcher Phylis Moen and Donna
Dempster-McClain collected detailed life histories of 313 women (all
wives and mothers) in 1956, they found that the roles most likely to
benefit came from volunteer positions. The key point, say the
investigators, is that the women were involved by choice. In all
likelihood, work might fill the same function to-day--at least among
women who work by choice in lobs they enjoy.
Women detailed everything from their education to their self-esteem
and life-satisfaction level. Follow-up interviews in 1986
revealed:
Participation in activities is a stronger predictor of successful
aging than education level or economic status.
Fify-two percent of those who didn't belong to clubs/organizations
in 1956 developed major illnesses by 1986, compared with 36% of women who
were active members.
Approximately 33% of women who were active in only one or two roles
beyond marriage and motherhood in 1956 died b 1986, versus 18% of women
who engaged in three or four.
Actively involved women in 1956 showed significantly higher
self-esteem 30 years later than their less-active peers. The more roles a
woman occupied, the higher her self-esteem.
The explanation is simple, says Moen, director of Cornell's Life
Course Institute. The more socially Integrated you are, the bigger your
social network and support system. Joining organizations also offers
women more access to different types of information.
Outside-the-house employment during the 30 year study period seemed
to have little bearing on self-esteem--and a negative effect on women,
health in later years. Educated working women claimed less general-life
satisfaction in 1886. But women who worked in 1956 were going against
cultural expectations, and few options were open to them.
Given the occupational freedom women have today, Moen and
Dempster-McClain decided to interview the next generation--the women's
daughters. The results are not yet analyzed, Moen sees a trend--daughters
of active/volunteering women become active themselves, regardless of long
work hours.
Says Moen, "Role involvements give purpose, meaning, and guidance
to life."
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