Job Design and Job Stress among Female and Male Experts: Comparisons of Journalists and Judges

Abstract

This paper deals job design factors and stress outcomes in two expert jobs. The study concerned 14 journalists and 28 judges in Finland. Data was collected by interviews and questionnaires. Connections between job design factors and stress outcomes were studied. Possible differences between male and female experts in their perceptions of job design factors and stress outcomes were of special interest.

The results showed that both the judges and the journalists reported high levels of skill variety, task identity, autonomy and dealing with others and workload. However, both groups reported a rather low level of anxiety. Slight differences between men and women were found in stress outcomes, which indicate that in the same job women might experience job stress differently from men. These findings indicate that gender might be important in job design, and that the effects of gender should be further studied.