• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.109-120
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of role stress perceived by employed housewives working in sales departments, and further, to devise coping strategies that can help reduce stress resulting from their multiple roles The sample of this study consisted of married women who were working in sales departments, who have at least one child, and who live in the greater Seoul metropolitan area. A total of 343 out of 450 originally distributed questionnaires were used for the analysis in this study. The findings of the study are: 1 The housewives in sales departments felt stress most severely in their role as a mother. Next were the roles as a wife, housewife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and working woman, in that order. 2. It appeared that age and the motive for employment affected the overall level of role stress among housewives. The two variables (age and the motive for employment) explained about 23% of the variance. The younger they were the higher was the level of role stress. Also, if they were working for an economic reason (to support the family), they tended to be more stressed out. The results of this study could be utilized as baseline data for policy-making, consultation, and development of educational programs for housewives working in sales departments, an area that has hardly been explored.