A new study revealed that most women feel less stressed at work than at home. The finding contradicted an earlier belief that work is a major source of stress for both men and women.
Researchers from Pennsylvania State University recruited 122 people and measured their cortisol levels by getting saliva samples. Cortisol is also known as a "stress hormone," as it is often released by the body when someone experiences stress. The participants also answered questionnaires to find out more details on their stress levels.
The analysis revealed that men did not show much of a change throughout the day, but significant numbers of women said that they felt happier while at work. The findings remained consistent, even after other factors such as gender, education and occupation were considered.
"Part of this might be women are leaving work and then cooking dinner and doing the dishes. Even though men are doing more than they did 30 years ago, it's still not an even distribution," Sarah Damaske, lead author of the study, said in a press release.
The researchers were suprised that work could be beneficial in lowering one's biological stress levels.
"This is good news. Work is actually good for you," she added.
After analyzing the cortisol levels of the participants, the researchers found out that women had lower stress levels compared to men at work. Mothers who worked full-time had the maximum benefit of lowered physical and mental stress compared to those working a part-time job, or no job at all.
Damaske recommended that companies start implementing family-friendly policies allowing employees to balance work and family responsibilities such as flexibility in schedules and workplaces, telecommuting, paid sick days, among others, instead of quitting their jobs.
"Our findings suggest that 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," the researchers wrote.
The results of the study were published in many journals including the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science Research, the American Sociological Review, and the Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health.
