Sex-Role Orientation, Coping Strategies, and Self-Efficacy of Women in Traditional and Nontraditional Occupations

Abstract

Examined women's sex-role orientation, coping strategies, self-efficacy, and stress in male- and female-dominated occupations. Results ( n = 281) revealed that high-masculine women (measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory), compared with low-masculine women, reported significantly lower scores on measures of anxiety and strain, with the exception of interpersonal strain. High-masculine women, compared with low-masculine women, reported greater problem- relative to emotion-focused coping and higher self-efficacy. Low-feminine women in nontraditional occupations reported higher self-efficacy and greater problem-focused coping compared with low-feminine women in traditional occupations. The relation between masculinity and strain was nonsignificant when the variance due to self-efficacy was partialed out, suggesting that the relationship between sex role and strain may be mediated by personal efficacy.