Page 218 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 9: Status of Women

imbalance in the equilibrium of the two roles (one coming in the way of other); and ‘low’ satisfaction Notes
implies being dissatisfied with one or both roles to a very large extent. In Deepa Mathur’s study, 53
per cent women were found to be highly satisfied (with their dual roles), 18 per cent moderately
satisfied, and 29 per cent dissatisfied.
This satisfaction/dissatisfaction with dual roles affects working woman’s self-image. ‘High’ self-
image means that woman feels that her work has improved her individuality, while ‘low’ self-image
means that woman feels that her job did not have a positive effect on her personality.
Low self-image and dual role problems create the sociological problem of role-conflict for the working
women, which in turn affects the family relations, child-care, and role performance with active and
passive involvement. Women with submissive disposition have more problems with dual roles than
those having a dominant personality. Deepa Mathur in her study (Ibid: 87-88) found 21.8 per cent
women having high degree of role-conflict, 44.4 per cent having low degree and 33.8 per cent having
no problem of role-conflict. Significant or moderate or weak relationship was found between role-
conflict and variables like motivational level of working, husband’s attitude towards wife’s
employment, interpersonal relations at work-place, and woman’s personality type. The relationship
of role-conflict with motivational level and husband’s attitude is significant, with interpersonal
relations at work-place is weak, with personality type (home-oriented, career-oriented, and home-
cum-career-oriented) is significant, and with presence of children is moderate.
Ramu (1989) is of the opinion that conflict between the new economic and the traditional domestic
roles results in the compartmen-talization of activities of women, at least in the initial phases of their
marital lives. However, this compartmentalization is short-lived, because the competing demands of
the occupational and domestic worlds will make it impossible for many women to address such
demand equitably. Sooner or later, many of these women learn either to scale down their occupational
aspirations or to curtail their obligations.
Role Adjustment
The working women have to ‘adjust’ themselves in home as well as working-place. Adjustment is
“smooth switch-over from one status to other status, perceiving roles as perceived by others, and
performing multiple roles with efficiency and satisfaction.” In simple terms, role adjustment depends
upon role demands (by the society) and role performance (by the individual).
A working woman has to face innumerable problems. The home-life has to be adjusted with the
office routine. The house-work has to be organized on lines different from the traditional ones.
According to Lazarns (1961), four main indicators of adjustment are: skilled and intellectual
performance of roles, extent of psychological comfort, absence of symptoms of tensions, and social
acceptability of behaviour.
The adjustment is measured on a unidimensional continuum. An individual’s position can be located
on it ranging from the highest point to the lowest point on the continuum. Low adjustment is
differentiated from maladjustment as the two are qualitatively different from each other.
Maladjustment involves pathological responses but low adjustment indicates incomplete involvement
in situations.
The ‘home adjustment’ and ‘job adjustment’ include different criteria of evaluation. In the case of
working women, generally it is found that the degree of high adjustment is higher in case of job
adjustment as compared to home adjustment.
Deepa Mathur’s research (Ibid: 107) revealed that out of 225 working women studied, 38 per cent had
high home adjustment, 43 per cent moderate home adjustment, and 19 per cent low home adjustment.
As regards the level of job adjustment, 44 per cent showed high, 30 per cent moderate, and 26 per
cent low adjustment. The level of job adjustment was found to be varying with the nature of job,
length of service, access to power, and future plans. Against this, the level of home adjustment depends
upon the structure of family, size of family, husband’s and in-law’s co-operation and self-esteem.
Taking the two situations (home-life and work) together, it may be stated that the working women
generally succeed in developing strategies that allow them to pursue their occupational aspirations
while simultaneously living up to their domestic responsibilities. Though the working women spend

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