It is widely believed that service-oriented jobs, which involve a direct interaction with customers, are prone to create relatively greater stress levels for employees. These stress levels are more overwhelming in the case of women employees due to the greater need among them to strike a balance between their personal and professional lives. Recent years have seen a shift in the role played by women, wherein they are no longer handling the expectations of the family and society alone. In addition to the traditional family and societal expectations, they are also required to meet their more demanding professional tasks. Hence, caught in the midst of such an array of expectations, they experience severe stress, which is taking a toll on their life satisfaction levels. Given this background, this study captures the relationship between organizational role stress and life satisfaction levels among nurses who are involved in intense organizational work climates such as hospitals. In order to corroborate these findings and to draw an appropriate comparison, the study also measures the stress and life satisfaction levels of women under relatively less intense organizational work climates. In line with the existing literature, the results reveal that intense work climates contribute to higher stress and lower life satisfaction levels.
A wide range of emotions are experienced by most of us irrespective of the environment in which we live, the nature of work we do, etc. But the only difference is that the intensity of emotions experienced varies. Although the study of emotions in work settings is not uncommon, researchers of organizational behavior are increasingly recognizing the importance of emotions in everyday work life (Arvey et al, 1998; and Fisher and Ashkanasy, 2000). The ground for modern research on emotions in organizations has been laid down by sociologist Hochschild's seminal book on emotional labor The Managed Heart (1983). Empirical works (e.g., Diefendorff and Richard, 2003) suggest that success on the job front can be achieved through the management of emotions and emotional displays.
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