Quality of life and life style of people in leading positions

Abstract

Background: Our study describes the quality of life of people in leading positions in a workplace and focuses also on gender differences. According to the literature, expectations toward women in such positions represent a greater challenge and a larger burden of stress than toward men; the effects of this burden manifest in the indicators of health related quality of life. Methods: A sub-sample was constructed based on the database of the national representative survey Hungarostudy 2006. The sub-sample contained the data of economically active persons in leading positions aged 18 years and over (N = 344). The burden of stress was measured by indicators representing job stress, relationship stress, and the stress caused by efforts to reconcile one’s occupational and private roles. The quality of life was measured by indicators of specific and general satisfaction and the subjective evaluation of happiness, and also by indicators of general health status such as occurrences of chronic diseases, subjective bodily symptoms, depression, and anxiety. Life style was examined through risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption), body mass index, and physical activity (sport). Results: The job stress indicators do not show differences between men and women. However, the stress level resulted by close personal relationships and work-family conflicts was much higher among women than among men. Self-rated health did not differ by gender, but women reported more medical treatments in the past three years and more subjective bodily symptoms than men which indicate a greater tendency of somatization. People in leading positions experience a similar level of general well-being but anxiety and dissatisfaction with sexual life is more prevalent among women while hostility is more common among men. Men also drink more and are more overweight than women leaders. Conclusions: The results do not suggest that women leaders are more vulnerable than men in the same positions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)