The comparison of psychological well-being, conflicts and quality of marital life of employed and unemployed women

Seifi Divkalaee, Masoumeh; Noori, Jafar

doi:10.22034/necsbm.2025.487133.1089

The comparison of psychological well-being, conflicts and quality of marital life of employed and unemployed women

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Masoumeh Seifi divkalaee ¹

Jafar Noori ²

¹ Ph.D. in Management, Women's Affairs Department, Administration of Astan Quds Razavi.

² Ph.D in Psychology, Department of Psychology, Mashhad Teacher training university. Shahid Beheshti branch, Mashhad, Iran

10.22034/necsbm.2025.487133.1089

Abstract

This study aimed to compare psychological well-being, marital conflicts, and marital quality of life between employed and unemployed married women in Mashhad. The statistical population consisted of all married women in Mashhad, including both employed (in public and private sectors) and unemployed (housewives) individuals. A total of 400 participants were selected, comprising 200 employed married women (convenience sampling) and 200 unemployed married women (multistage cluster random sampling). Data were collected through a literature review (for theoretical foundations and background research) as well as questionnaires. Inferential statistics, including one-sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U test, were used to analyze the research hypotheses.
The results indicated that employed women had a higher mean score in psychological well-being compared to unemployed women. Employed women scored higher in personal growth and environmental mastery. Additionally, in all dimensions of marital conflict except for "financial separation," unemployed women exhibited higher levels of marital conflict than employed women. The mean marital quality of life was also higher among employed women. Based on the findings, practical recommendations are provided.

Keywords

psychological well-being

marital conflicts

marital relationship quality

women's employment

Subjects