Salience and conflict of work and family roles among employed men and women.

The aim of this research was to determine the salience of work and family roles and to study the connection between role salience and the interference of different types of roles among working men and women. Self-assessment measurement scales were applied. The research involved 206 participants; 103 employed married couples from different regions of Croatia. The results show that roles closely connected to family are considered the most salient. However, men are mostly dedicated behaviourally to the role of a worker. Women dedicate more time and energy to the roles of a spouse, a parent, and a family member whereas men are more oriented towards the leisurite role. The highest level of conflict was perceived when it comes to work disturbing leisure. Gender differences appeared only for work-to-marriage conflict, with men reporting higher conflict than women. The research found proof of only some low correlations between the salience of different types of roles and work-family conflict.

Conflict between work and family roles and satisfaction among nurses in different shift systems in Croatia: a questionnaire survey.

The objective of this study was to examine the perception of conflict between work and family roles and job, family, and life satisfaction among nurses in Croatia. One hundred and twenty-nine nurses (married mothers) working in hospitals in Zadar, Sibenik, and Split were divided in four groups according to their worktime schedule. The participants completed a survey, which included a set of sociodemographic-type questions, questions about the level and allocation of family responsibilities between spouses, and scales measuring the perceived negative effects of worktime, psychological demands of the work, work-family conflict, and semantic differential scales for measuring the affective and cognitive-evaluative component of job, family, and life satisfaction. This was the first study in Croatia to deal with work-family conflict among nurses or workers with different shift systems.The results of this study indicate that nurses working morning shifts only experienced less conflict between work and family than other groups of nurses, who worked the morning, afternoon, and the night shift. The cognitive-evaluative component of job satisfaction was the highest among morning shift nurses and the lowest in nurses who worked 12-hour shifts, while the affective component of life satisfaction was the lowest in nurses working irregular and backward rotated shifts. These results confirm that shiftwork makes the work-family role conflict even worse. They also support the view that the type of shift rotation matters.

Stress among Croatian physicians: comparison between physicians working in emergency medical service and health centers: pilot study.

AIM: To determine the sources of stress, its intensity, frequency, and psychophysical and behavioral reactions in physicians working in emergency medical service and those working in health centers. METHODS: To a convenience sample of primary care physicians employed in emergency medical service (n = 79) and health centers (n = 81), we administered the list of demographic questions, Scale of Sources of Stress, Scale of Intentions of Leaving the Job, and Scale of Psychosomatic Symptoms. RESULTS: Emergency medicine physicians experienced significantly more intense and more frequent uncontrollable working situations, conflict between work and family roles, and unfavorable relationships with coworkers than physicians working in health centers. They were also more likely to leave the job during the next few years and/or change jobs within the profession (scores 2.2 ± 0.9 vs 1.7 ± 0.9 out of maximum 5.0, F = 12.2, P = 0.001) and they had a poorer physical health status (scores 1.8 ± 0.5 vs 1.7 ± 0.5 out of maximum 4.0, F = 5.3, P = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Physicians working in emergency medical service experience more stress in almost all aspects of their work than physicians working in health centers. They also have a stronger intention of leaving the job, which decreases with years of experience.

[Sex hormones and cognitive functioning of women]. / Spolni hormoni i kognitivnofunkcioniranje zena.

This paper discusses the organisational and activational effects of sex hormones, and their influence on cognitive functioning. Previous studies have shown gender differences in specific cognitive abilities. Women generally show an advantage in verbal fluency, perceptual speed and accuracy, as well as in fine motor skills, while men generally show an advantage in spatial and mathematical abilities. These differences in cognitive functioning are thought to occur as a result of foetal brain exposure to different levels of sex hormones during prenatal life. Additional evidence of organisational effects of sex hormones on cognitive functioning also comes from studies of subjects with genetic disorders, such as androgen insensitivity syndrome, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and Tyrner syndrome.Furthermore, former investigations have shown that increase in female sex hormone in the late follicular and/or luteal phase of the menstrual cycle intensifies the typical female cognitive pattern of functioning with improved efficiency in tasks which are usually better performed by women. At the same time, low levels of such hormones that characterise the menstrual phase of the cycle intensify the typical male cognitive pattern of functioning with better efficiency in tasks which usually better performed by men.This paper also points to methodological differences between investigations of organizational and activational effects of sex hormones on cognitive functioning, as well a to the direction of future investigations.