A Study on Psychological Well-Being of Women Working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli

Transcription

1 International Journal of Scientific Research and Management (IJSRM) Volume 5 Issue 11 Pages Website: ISSN (e): Index Copernicus value (2015): DOI: /ijsrm/v5i11.04 A Study on Psychological Well-Being of Women Working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli K.S.Velmurugan*, Dr.K.Maheswari** *Ph.D Research Scholar, Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University Constituent College, Kurumbalur, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India **Head, Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University Constituent College, Kurumbalur, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India Abstract Mental health is the foundation for well-being and effective functioning for an individual and for a community and that of women is important both for their own health and for the well-being of their children and families. Different factors have significant influence on the psychological well-being, like poor nutrition, diseases, injuries and severe pain in body part etc, which can contribute to well-being issues and psychological distress. Working women statistics, women suffer high levels of physical, sexual and psychological abuse (Mankani, 2012). birth weight, miscarriage and prematurity are the widespread problems in undernourished population that can be exacerbated by heavy and stressful work. This study is aimed to assess the psychological well-being of women working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli. Objective of the study includes socio demographic profile of the respondents and assessment of the psychological well-being of women working in Southern Railways, Tiruchirappalli. The researcher has used descriptive research design, the universe of the present study comprises of 343 women working in Southern Railways, Tircuhirappalli. Simple random sampling method was adopted to enquire 6 respondents for the study, which forms 1/3 rd of the 343 universe. The researcher has used self prepared interview schedule pertaining to socio-demographic characteristics and a standardized tool on the psychological well-being scale developed by Ryff (18). The major findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents (%) have moderate level of psychological well-being. Keywords: Psychological well-being, working women, railways, sampling. Introduction Indian women have been gradually coming out of traditional roles and entering into the male dominated areas. In recent years the role and status of the women have been changed tremendously. With increasing female education and more liberty for their rights and privileges, women s attitude towards their stereotyped role has changing. Their participation in education and work place has also led to their increased sociofamilial roles. Women who work outside the home are required to make many socio-familial adjustments that may contribute more stress and anxiety. The problem of stress in women, particularly working women is an important aspect on the process of social and emotional changes. Women in India today have more opportunities to pursue their higher education and more and more women have started taking up the jobs outside their homes. Women are existing under cultural norms and values so the working women are expected to make adjustments with the family. So this in turn leads to a number of stress and strain among working women. WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Mental health has been reported as an important factor influencing an individual s various behaviors, activities, happiness and performance. Mental pressure is a vital causes of the mental health problems which arise due to various conditions. Mental health can be defined as the ability to make adequate social and emotional adjustments to the environment on the plane of reality. In other words it is the ability to face and accept the realities of life K.S.Velmurugan, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 11 November 2017 [ Page 7370

2 (Bhatia, 182). The interface between the work place and the family life is more stressful for the women who work outside the home and they have to perform both familial as well as professional roles. This in turn, leads to stress of the person and affects mental health. Rastogi and Kashyap (2001) reported that significant negative relationship existed between occupational stress and mental health among the women who are married employed in teaching, nursing and clerical jobs. The sources of stress for the working and non-working women are heavy workload, lack of co-operation from colleagues or neighbors and negative community attitude. Ojha and Rani (2004) observed significant negative correlation between life stress and positive self-evaluation and between life stress and integration of personality among working and nonworking women. Based on these facts the researcher has planned to study the psychological well-being of women working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli. Review of Literature Ansuman et al, (2014) reviewed the mental health status among married working women residing in Bhubanewar city, India a psychological survey. This study aimed to assess the mental health status and correlate married working women, data collected from 240 respondents, the researcher used multistage cluster random sampling method, its shots that nearly one third of the respondents had poor mental health. Ningshen et al, (2015) assessed the psychological health factors of women laborers working in Pune railway station area, Pune. The study used both quantitative and qualitative data. Primary and secondary sources of data were also used in this study. The sample size is selected from 80 respondents in Pune railway station area and researcher used judgmental/purposive sampling method. Result shot that mostly migrant s women laboures were found in this research. Mankai (2015) conducted comparative study of mental health of working and non-working women. The random sample consisted of 0 working and 0 non working women. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between of the respondents mental health of the working and non- working women. Aim The aim of the study is to analyze the psychological well-being of women working in Southern Railway Tiruchirappalli. Objective To study the socio-demographic characteristics of women working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli. To assess the psychological well-being of women working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli. To find out association between psychological well-being and selected socio demographic variable. To suggest suitable measures to enhance the psychological well-being of women. Research Design In the present study, the researcher has attempted to investigate the psychological well-being of women working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli. The effort of the investigation is to provide a descriptive profile of the respondents and further the researcher has attempted to find out the association between the psychological well-being and selected socio demographic variable of the respondents. Hence for this study, a descriptive research design was used. Universe of the study comprises of 343 women working in Southern Railways Tiriuchirappalli. The psychological well-being scale developed by Ryff (18) was used. The researcher has collected data from women working in Southern Railways Tiruchirappalli. Simple random sampling data was collected from 1/3 rd of the respondents and the sample size is 6 Questionnaire method was applied to collect the needed information from the respondents. By using SPSS the data was analysed and various statistical tests were applied. Results and discussion The major findings of the study revealed that more or less equal number of respondents (36.4 and 36.3) each come under the age group of 31 to 40 and 41 to 50 years respectively, little more than (52.1%) of the respondents had 5 to 7 family member, 22. per cent of the respondents had work experience 6 to 10 years. A sizable number of the respondents (34.4%) monthly income is from Rs.1000 to The family monthly income of the respondents is (42.7%) Rs to Nearly cent per cent of the respondents K.S.Velmurugan, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 11 November 2017 [ Page 7371

3 (%) were married. Majority of the respondents (84.4%) belong to Hindu religion. Majority of the respondents (71.%) belong to backward community. Nearly majority of the respondents (5%) reside in rural areas. Great majority of the respondents (88.5%) educational qualification were professional courses. Great majority of the respondents (88.5%) hail in joint families. Exactly half of respondents (50%) had single of child. Little more than half of the respondents (52.1%) had one elder person in the family. Few percent of the respondents (6.2%) job designation was Junior Account. Majority of the respondents (70.8%) had both movable and immovable property. Vast majority of the respondents (4.8%) had own house. Table: 1 Distribution of the respondents by their of psychological well-being S. No Psychological well-being Number of Respondents 1 Autonomy 2 Environmental Mastery 3 Personal growth 4 Positive relation 5 Purpose in life 6 Self acceptance 7 Overall psychological well being (n=6) Percentage K.S.Velmurugan, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 11 November 2017 [ Page 7372

4 The table depicts that majority of the respondents have (%) moderate level of autonomy and per cent of the respondents have low level of autonomy as well as per cent of the respondents have high level of autonomy. It is clear that majority of the respondents (62.5%) have moderate level of environment mastery and 28.1 per cent of the respondents have low level of environment mastery as well as per cent of the respondents high level of environment mastery. It is noted that majority of the respondents (%) have moderate level of personal growth and per cent of the respondents have low level of personal growth where as per cent of the respondents have high level of personal growth. It is observed that 43.8 per cent respondents have moderate level of positive relation and 38.5 per cent of the respondents have low levels of positive relation where as 17.7 per cent of the respondents have high level of positive relation. It is revealed that % of the respondents have moderate level of purpose in life and per cent of the respondents low have level of purpose in life where as per cent of the respondents have high level of purpose in life. It is found that majority of the respondents (%) have moderate level of self acceptance and per cent of the respondents have low level of self acceptance and per cent of the respondents have high level of self acceptance. The table above shows that majority of the respondents (%) have moderate level of psychological well-being and per cent of the respondents have low level of psychological well-being and per cent of the respondents have high level of psychological well-being. Table 2 Association between Respondents Age Group and their Psychological Well-Being level S. No Age Group Psychological Well being level (n=6) Statistical (%) (%) (%) (1.2%) 12 (1.7%) 2 (22.2%) (11.5%) 12 (1.7%) 0 (.0%) (1.2%) 13 (21.3%) 2 (22.2%) (11.5%) 11(18.0%) 4 (44.4%) (1.2%) 11 (18.0%) 1 (11.1%) (1.2%) 2 (3.3%) 0 (.0%) Inference X 2 = a df= <0.05 Significant There is a significant association between respondents age and their psychological well-being. It is understood from above the table that age is a significant factor that contribute for the well-being of working women and it is also clear that the respondents have moderate level of psychological well-being. Table: 3 Association between Respondents Work Experiences and their Psychological Well-Being S. No Work experiences level Psychological Well being level (n=6) (%) (%) (%) (11.5%) 5 (8.2%) 1 (11.1%) (1.2%) 16 (.2%) 1 (11.1%) (1.2%) 12 (1.7%) 2 (22.2%) (15.4%) 14 (23.0%) 3 (33.3%) (1.2%) 12 (1.7%) 2 (22.2%) (15.4%) 2 (3.3%) 0 (.0%) Statistical Inference X 2 = a df= <0.05 Significant The above table indicates that there is significant association between the respondents work experience and their psychological well-being. It is understood from the table that work experience is a significant factor that contribute for the well-being of working women and it is also clear that as work experience increases K.S.Velmurugan, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 11 November 2017 [ Page 7373

5 psychological well-being also increases. Table: 4 Association between respondents monthly income and their psychological well-being level S. No Monthly Income (Rs.) Psychological Well being level (n=6) Statistical Inference (%) (%) (%) X 2 = a (30.8%) 20 (32.8%) 5 (55.6%) (23.1%) 23 (37.7%) 0 (.0%) (30.8%) 10 (16.4%) 4 (44.4%) (11.5%) 8 (13.1%) 0 (.0%) (3.8%) 0 (.0%) 0 (.0%) df= <0.05 Significant It is understood from the table that there is a significant association between respondents monthly income and their psychological well-being. It is a known factor that monthly income is a significant factor that contribute for the well-being of working women and it is also clear that as monthly income increases of psychological well-being also increases self reliance of working women gives them confidence and decision making power. Suggestions The Southern Railways should conduct a recreational programme, capacity building programme, refresher courses periodically to its employees to enable them to learn new technological changes and its impact on their stress less work. For improving industrial relation, training may be imported to women employees on increase them skills, knowledge, reduce mental stress and become expertise in their functional areas and personnel life. Focus must also be given on the staff welfare in terms of faster grievances redressal, immediate sanctioning of employees lawful expectations and on time release of grants will definitely increase the employee psychological well-being and also the management may practice biased treatment, victimization, gossiping personal animosity towards the co-employees should be removed through transparent administration. Awareness programme on importance of well-being and mental health programme must be given to the workers to create a conducive work as well as family environment. Conclusion The present study has been undertaken to assess the impact of the psychological well-being of women working in Southern Railways, Tiruchirappalli. This study has be measured psychological well-being with regard to peaceful working environment, welfare measure, employees health, safety and industrial relation, organization policies. From this research it is realized that psychological well-being practices of working women is important in every organization, along with human resource planning and development. Its application and operation have challenges and it makes the practice quite difficult. Based on the major research finding study it is understood that socio demographic characteristics such as age, income, education, domicile etc play an important role in improving the quality of life of women. The Southern Railways has to emphasize the present personnel policies and include all those matter which affect the employees and govern their services, such as promotion, training, perks and allowances, welfare measure, maternity leave, Provident Fund, Employees State Insurance etc., The Southern Railways has to provide satisfactory welfare measure to its employees to improve their moral and loyalty, reduce employees turnover and psychological problems and absenteeism there by building a stable work force. This study provides complete information on women working in Southern Railways, Tiruchirappalli and also it helps to understand women and their psychological well-being status. References 1. R.V. Mankani and Ganga V.Yenagi, (2012) Comparative study of mental health of working and non- K.S.Velmurugan, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 11 November 2017 [ Page 7374

6 working women. Karnataga J.Agricultural Science., 25(4): ( ) Bhatia, B.D., (182) Mental health in education, Advanced educational psychology, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 3. Ojha, S. and Rani, U., (2004), A comparative study of the level of life stress and various dimension of mental health among working and non-working Indian women. J.com. Guid. Res., 21(3): Rastogi,R. and Kashyap, K., (2001), A study of occupational stress and mental health among married working women. J.com. Guid. Res., 18(2): Ansuman Panigrahi, Aditya Prasad Padhy and Madhulita Panigrahi, (2014). Mental health status among married working women residing in bhubanewar city, india a psychological survey. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Biomed Research International Volume 2014, Article 7827, 7 pages. 6. Ningshen Athing, Ningson Primrose and B.S.Gotpagar (2015). Psychological health factors of women labourers working in pune Railway Station Area, Pune, Inida. International Research Journal of Social Sciences ISSM Vol.4 (4), 1-6. K.S.Velmurugan, IJSRM Volume 05 Issue 11 November 2017 [ Page 7375