Abstract
Purpose. Survey research was employed to determine differences between male and female elementary principals in their perceptions of occupational stress. Overall stress profiles and five dimensions of job-related stress were compared: role-based stress, task-based stress, conflict-mediating stress, boundary-spanning stress, and home-family stress. The relationships between overall stress and years of experience in the principalship, and frequency of stress-related health complaints and stress were also studied. Method. The Administrative Stress Index, a questionnaire consisting of situation-type items (stressors) was mailed to equal numbers of randomly-selected male and female principals of selected schools. Respondents rated on a scale of one to five the degree to which they were bothered by each stressor. The majority of the data were treated with the t test for independent samples. The two relationships studied were measured by calculating a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Results. No significant differences were found between males and females in their perceived overall stress nor on four of the five dimensions of stress studied. Close similarities were found between males and females in the identification of high and low stressors. In the home-family dimension, females reported significantly higher levels of stress than males. No relationship was found between number of years of experience in the principalship and overall stress. Female principals reported no significantly higher levels of stress than male principals, even though the mean number of years in the principalship for females was only six, compared with a mean of fourteen years for males. Stress-related health complaints are positively related to levels of overall stress for females, and a positive non-significant trend was indicated for males. Except for fatigue, little difference was found between males and females in their reported frequency of the health complaints listed. When compared with males, three times the number of females reportedly experienced fatigue frequently. Conclusion. On the basis of their perceived job-related stress, men and women seem to be equally suitable as candidates for elementary principalships.