Women’s Self-concept and Mental Health

Abstract

Self-concept is an important indicator of personality. The working woman, being an earner in the family, is easily accepted and respected. Hence, it was thought that working women would have a more positive self-concept as compared to non-working women. To assess this, a Q-sort technique developed by Butler and Haigh (1954) was used for 137 working and 99 non-working, all graduate, middle-class, married women in the age range of 25 to 45 years. However, it is amazing to note that no significant difference between working and non-working women was found. All women had a devaluated self-concept. The study was also aimed to note the differences among women working at different occupational levels. There is also no significant difference in their self-concept. However, in item-wise analysis, more confidence, ambition and assertiveness were seen in the case of working women as compared to non-working women.

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