Male workaholics are characterized by anxiety and poor health?

Being a breadwinner in the family is honorable, is not it? You earn more money, which automatically gives you more power. You probably make more decisions and do less work around the house. What else can you dream about?

The more money, the lower the self-esteem?

But, according to a new sociological study, there is an amazing regularity: when a man is an earner in the family, this adversely affects his mental health. As it turned out, those who earn more have an underestimated self-esteem and an increased level of anxiety. Hence the conclusion that workaholics fall into the category of risk by several parameters. In addition to the fact that they risk undermining their physical health, they begin to suffer from a lack of mental well-being. Why is this happening?

Anxiety for family status

That's what the authors of the study say: "When you are the only breadwinner, the status of your family is completely dependent on the level of your income. Even if the spouse also works, but she has a small salary, all responsibility lies on your shoulders. You begin to worry about what the family will need, and are ready to take on any overtime work. " It is curious that in families where the breadwinners are women, a diametrically opposite picture is revealed. For representatives of the fair half of humanity, a greater level of income correlates with high emotional well-being.

Why do women workaholics feel better?

For men, being responsible for the financial well-being of the family is not honorable, but, rather, ordinary. No one will praise him for making a lot of money. No one will admire his services. But it costs him to lose part of the salary, as it immediately flies critical arrows. In the case of female breadwinners, things are different. From the representatives of the weaker sex initially do not expect anything supernatural. But it is worth the wife to climb up the career ladder, the surrounding will start to admire her successes. Praise from society inspires, and a woman is accepted to work with a tripled force. And even if she loses her income, no one will reproach her for it.

A new look at traditional gender roles

In a study conducted by Christine Münch with graduate students Matthew Rogers and Jessica Yorks, it shed light on traditional gender roles in Western society. That's what the sociologists managed to find out. To date, the pay gap still persists, and women earn only 79 percent of the amount that men earn. However, the ideal model of family relations in the late twentieth century is confidently losing ground. Now fewer families, where the man is the main breadwinner, works from morning till late evening, and his wife sits at home with children and meets the getter at the doorstep with a delicious dinner. So, in 1967, almost 50 percent of married women were housewives. At present, the number of non-working wives has decreased to 20 percent. There is another curious fact: in 38 percent of cases, modern American women earn more than their own spouses.

Data are derived from a representative study

For his research, Dr. Münsh used a representative study, which resulted in the selection of more than 3,000 respondents. Participants independently assessed the state of their physical health, mental well-being, and income in comparison with the income of the spouse. The researchers conducted control over the respondents' age, education, aggregate income, and the availability of children.

The opinion of the author of the study

In general, men reported higher incomes and more working hours per week. At the same time, men expressed some dissatisfaction with their mental and physical well-being. The author of the study explained the current trend: "The breadwinner is trying to earn more and more to provide the necessary conditions for the family to live, for example, a country house or an apartment with a larger footprint. But when a man starts to earn a lot, it is very difficult for him to take a step back, refuse to work overtime and spend more time with his family. Even if he thirsts for this, he has firmly settled in his mind about responsibility. This situation can lead to what psychologists call a "golden cell syndrome". When you make a lot of money, it's extremely difficult to switch to performing more pleasant things that do not bring you income. "