The Effect of Perceived Discrimination on Gender Role Conflict Among Men Engaged in A-typical Occupations: The Moderating Role of Work Autonomy

Abstract

Empirical research suggests that gendered job-segregation have effects on men in the workplace consequent upon bias evaluations stemming from social norms regarding acceptable gender roles. These biases are capable of inducing workplace stressors that may affect the psychological well being of men engaged in female-dominated occupations. This study investigates the moderating role of work autonomy in the relationship between perceived gender discrimination and gender role conflict for men in atypical occupations. A cross-sectional survey method was used to collect data from a sample of 150 men in the occupations of nursing, librarian, and primary school teaching, and a hierarchical regression test analyzed hypotheses. Regression analysis demonstrated that perceived discrimination and work autonomy were significant predictors of gender role conflict (β = .60, p < .001), and β = -.62, p < .001, respectively). A moderated regression analysis was also conducted to test the assumption that job autonomy moderates the relationship between perceiving a discriminatory work environment and workers’ gender role conflict. The analysis indicated that 79% of the variation in the dependent variable could be explained by the main effects and the interaction effects, F (4, 145) =140.58, p < .05). This interaction effect, although significant, accounted for a minimal incremental effect above and beyond the direct effects of perceived gender discrimination and work autonomy (ΔR2 = .008, F (1, 145) = 5.48, p < .05). Research implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.