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DOI: 10.1177/2319510X1200800109
2012 8: 77 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation
R. Radhakrishnan and Jins Joy. P.
A Study on Gender Differences in Stress Faced by Life Insurance Marketing Employees

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A Study on Gender Differences
in Stress Faced by Life Insurance
Marketing Employees
R. Radhakrishnan
Jins Joy. P.
Abstract
Stress is a universal element in work and all human beings have to face stress in all walks of life. Currently, business establishments are
critically analysing the stress management disputes that contribute to lower job performance of employees originating from dissatis-
faction and high turnover, ultimately affecting organisational goals and objectives. In life insurance business, the employees involved in
the selling of life insurance policies may face several stresses due to varied reasons. This can be grouped under five heads: superiors
behaviour, personal grumbles, job-specific factors, work policy of the company and external forces. Put together, 46 sub-variables
are considered as responsible stress factors in the case of life insurance marketing employees. This study consists of 100 employees
working in private life insurance companies in mid-western part of Tamil Nadu. A detailed structured questionnaire has been used for
collecting data from the respondents. The questionnaire was pre-tested and consists of two parts: the first part focuses on the collec-
tion of socio-economic background, and the second part collects data for various sources of stress. Simple random sampling method
has been adopted and data collected from the respondents are properly analysed with the help of simple percentage analysis, mean
and standard deviation. Gender difference with regard to various sources of stress factors could be tested by using t-test analysis. This
study concluded that there is a similarity in the stress level between male and female employees.
Keywords
Stress, sources of stress, marketing employees, workplace stress, stress level of life insurance employees
Introduction
Stress at the workplace has been an emerging problem in
the modern-day management affairs in the conglomerates.
Numerous factors are responsible for creating stress among
the working community. Increased attention on the reduc-
tion of stress is capturing the eye of administrators and
academicians in recent times. Stress can lead to job dissat-
isfaction and high absenteeism among the workers when it
remains unresolved. Job satisfaction is one of the most
important outcomes affected by stress in the workplace and
all surrounding factors. The female employees are experi-
encing more stress than the male employees in certain cir-
cumstances and at the same time, male employees are
experiencing more stress than the female employees in
other circumstances. This scenario may differ from one job
to another and from one place to another. Modern research
studies consistently emphasise that female employees
report significantly higher levels of psychological and
physical stress than male employees. In addition, there is a
considerable amount of evidence that strongly indicates
that female employees are both more psychologically and
physiologically reactive to stress observation than the male
employees. Stress refers to any environmental, organisa-
tional and individual, or internal, demands which require
the individual to readjust the usual behaviour pattern.
Extent of stress results from events or situations that have
a potential to cause change in the work. Certain stimuli or
situations can result in the experience of stress in the
employees and they are called stressors.
Stress interrupts the equilibrium of the human body.
Stress affects a person physically, emotionally and men-
tally. When individuals experience stress or face a demand-
ing situation, they adopt ways of dealing with it, as they
cannot remain in a continued state of tension. The prevail-
ing tension in the workplace can cause for poor employee
performance and output, which is directly linked with the
profitability of the concern. This study addresses the issue
of job stress among the male and female employees work-
ing in life insurance marketing by bringing together all the
relevant personal and socio-economic variables while con-
trolling for working environment and employment condi-
tions in the workplace that are thought to be contributing to
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management
Research and Innovation
8(1) 7785
2012 Asia-Pacific
Institute of Management
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/2319510X1200800109
http://apjmri.sagepub.com
R. Radhakrishnan, Professor and Head, Department of Management Studies, SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore.
Jins Joy. P., Research Scholar, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046. E-mail: jinsjoy.p@gmail.com
Article
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78 R. Radhakrishnan and Jins Joy. P.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 7785
work-related stress. Particularly, this study focuses on the
superiors behaviour in the workplace, personal complaints
regarding monetary and non-monetary factors, job-specific
factors of stress, work policy of the company and external
forces causing stress.
Problem Statement
Marketing is the toughest job among the various job cate-
gories in the big business enterprises. Marketing employ-
ees are the real income generators for the company; the
revenue is directly linked with their performance. Marketing
professionals are always assigned some amount of busi-
ness per month as target. Hence, they are in a position
where they have to take on more workload which can lead
to additional stress. In life insurance business, the sales
managers sell life insurance policies with the help of a net-
work of agents appointed by them. The managers have to
perform a plethora of work like agent recruitment and
training; getting licence; business prospecting; call close;
form filling; attending and arranging meetings; making tel-
ephone calls; sending business report to boss; converting
cash into demand drafts; having knowledge on know your
customer norms, anti-money laundering policy, health and
occupational conditions of the proposer and life insured;
collecting proofs; and so on. The employees are working
10 to 15 hours daily rather than the industry standard of 8
hours per day. This work atmosphere in the private insur-
ance company is somewhat different from the government
insurance company. In addition, life insurance is an intan-
gible product and customers are not ready to purchase it on
their own; it is sold by creating awareness by the sales
managers. In India, life insurance business is a selling
activity rather than buying process. It is a concept selling-
oriented business, which further leads to multiple stresses
on the marketing managers.
The managers are facing various stresses during the
provision of service in day-to-day life. Despite the fact that
the challenging work conditions encourage this profession
to be male dominated, nowadays females are also entering
this field with the hope of succeeding against all odds. Life
insurance marketing requires educated and experienced
sales managers having a two-wheeler to perform their job.
The sales managers have to travel 50 to 100 km daily for
business procurement. Usually, they are sourcing business
with the help of agents recruited by them. The agents are
the facilitators of insurance policy selling and fully depend
on the assistance of the sales managers. Sales managers
should focus on the appointment and proper training of
agents, along with satisfying the daily minimum business
requirements assigned by their superiors. Sales people in
the life insurance companies have to face several other
problems daily. Hence, the researchers have attempted to
test the sources of stress associated with the insurance mar-
keting business and to know the difference between male
and female employees with respect to the various stresses
involved in the workplace of insurance marketing.
Review of Literature
In the past two decades, measuring stress level among cor-
porate employees has been a hot topic for research, as evi-
denced by stress studies in literature. In recent years, there
has been a plethora of literature examining the causes and
consequences of workplace stress. Indeed, much evidence
has now accumulated in an attempt to explain the problems
associated with various sectors of the working population.
For example, stress amongst professional occupations
(Travers & Cooper, 1993), the woman manager (Cleveland
et al., 2000) or even high-risk occupations, such as air traf-
fic controllers (Crump et al., 1981). Stress can either have
a positive or a negative effect on an employees perform-
ance. Positive qualities are those in which the individual
may feel more excited and agitated and perceive the situa-
tion positively as a form of challenge (Selye, 1996). Stress
is also described as posing threat to the quality of work life
as well as physical and psychological well-being (Cox,
1998). A high level of occupational stress not only detri-
mentally influences the quality, productivity and creativity
of the employee but also employees health, well-being and
morale (Cohen & Williamson, 1991). Job-related stress
tends to decrease general job satisfaction. Some studies
suggest that stress level of a female employee is more on
physical and emotional symptoms than their male counter-
parts (Flynn et al., 2009; McLean & Anderson, 2009).
Kim, Murrmann and Lee (2009) pointed out that women
tend to be satisfied with their job when they can interact
with others who understand their roles in the organisation,
while men tend to be satisfied when their performance
itself is valued by others. As a result, women are more
likely to experience dissatisfaction with their job than men
unless role expectations are clearly specified to them.
Many workers express that their job is a prominent source
of stress in their life but reduced workload, improved man-
agement and supervision, better pay, benefits and vacation
times can reduce the stress among employees (Thomson,
2006). Stress results in high portion of absence and loss of
employment. The ratio of stress-affected persons in organ-
isations is increasing at an alarming rate which affects both
the employee performance and goal achievement (Treven,
2002). Stress is a term that refers to sum of physical, men-
tal and emotional strains or tensions on a person or feelings
of stress which result from interactions between people
and their environment that are perceived as straining or
exceeding their adaptive capacities and threatening their
well-being (Ghaleb, 2008).
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A Study on Gender Differences in Stress 79
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 77-85
Objectives of the Study
This study is based on the following objectives:
1. To study the factors responsible for creating work-
place stress for life insurance marketing employees.
2. To check the socio-economic background of employ-
ees engaged in the distribution of life insurance
products.
3. To check the difference in stress levels between the
male and female employees as to various sources of
stress in the workplace.
4. To know whether gender difference exists with
regard to stress in workplace.
Methodology
This study was conducted through descriptive method, and
the sampling technique was simple random sampling.
Sample size was 100 respondents, consisting of 50 male
respondents and 50 female respondents. Sampling frame
was the employees engaged in distribution of life insurance
products and designated as sales managers, unit managers,
business development managers, agency managers, assist-
ant branch sales managers, marketing managers and terri-
tory managers. The draft questionnaire was eventually sub-
jected to pilot testing with a total of 15 sales managers and
they were asked to comment on any perceived abstruse-
ness, omissions or errors concerning the draft questionnaire.
The feedback received from the employees of insurance
companies was then updated in the questionnaire. Data were
collected by means of a structured questionnaire adminis-
tered to the sales personnel of insurance companies in
Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Salem. The mode of data
collection from the respondents was personal interview.
The questionnaire used in this study consists of two
parts. The first part deals with the socio-economic back-
ground of the respondents, such as gender, age, designa-
tion, monthly salary, experience, family size, etc. The second
part deals with the factors which are considered the most
important sources of stress by the employees in their com-
panies. These factors have been bifurcated into five types,
namely, personal grumbles, superior tendency, job-specific
stress, work policy of the company and external forces.
Each of these factors is again sub-divided into number of
sub-variables that are necessary to represent each factor
more clearly. The stress level of marketing employees is
measured by a structured questionnaire prepared on the
basis of the sub-variables mentioned in the stress sources.
The information acquired from second part of the question-
naire in the second section has been distinguished on a
5-point Likert scale from 5 to 1, where 5 is for strongly
agree, 4 is for agree, 3 is for neutral, 2 is for disagree
Table 1. Socio-economic Background of Respondents
Socio-economic Background Particulars Percentage
Gender Male 50%
Female 50%
Age 2125 years 18%
2630 years 43%
3135 years 22%
3640 years 8%
41 years and above 9%
Education UG 22%
PG 42%
Diploma 26%
Professional degree 10%
Monthly salary (`) Below 10,000 12%
10,00115,000 33%
15,00120,000 17%
20,00125,000 25%
Above 25,001 13%
Marital status Married 71%
Unmarried 29%
Experience Fresh 19%
12 years 43%
24 years 13%
48 years 12%
More than 8 years 13%
Family size 2 only 14%
34 48%
More than 5 38%
Source: Primary data.
and 1 is for strongly disagree. The primary data collected
from the respondents have been sorted, classified and tabu-
lated in a format and analysed by using simple percentage
analysis, mean and standard deviation, and t-test has been
used for inference. The t-test has been used to know
whether the opinions of the employees, given for various
stress, significantly differs or not.
Results and Discussions
Analysis of Socio-economic Background of
Respondents
Respondents socio-economic background was measured
through attributes like gender, age, education, marital sta-
tus, monthly income, experience and family size. This has
been analysed by taking simple percentage analysis as
illustrated in Table 1.
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80 R. Radhakrishnan and Jins Joy. P.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 7785
Table 1 presents socio-economic information of the
respondents. The sample consists of 50 per cent male
employees and 50 per cent female employees. The respond-
ents age is classified within five dimensions: 18 per cent
of respondents belong to the first age group of 2125 years;
43 per cent of respondents are in 2630 years of age group;
22 per cent of respondents fall between 3135 years; 8 per
cent of respondents are in the age group of 3640 years;
and remaining 9 per cent of respondents have entered the
age of more than 41 years. Education is the prime criteria
to get a job from the insurance companies. While looking
at the educational qualifications, it is found that 22 per cent
of respondents are undergraduate (UG) degree holders, 42
per cent of respondents are postgraduate (PG) degree hold-
ers, 26 per cent of respondents are diploma holders and
remaining 10 per cent of respondents are professional
degree holders.
Respondents monthly salary had been studied under
five intervals and the results are as follows: 12 per cent of
respondents are getting less than `10,000 as take-home
salary, 33 per cent of respondents are drawing salary
between `10,001 and `15,000, 17 per cent of respondents
salary falls between `15,001 and `20,000, 25 per cent of
respondents salary level ranges between `20,001 and
`25,000, and remaining 13 per cent of respondents are get-
ting salary more than `25,000. Marital status of the
respondents explains that 71 per cent are married and the
remaining 29 per cent are unmarried. Experience plays
more on the job performance and stress from the job. This
study shows that 19 per cent belong to the category of
fresh candidates, 43 per cent of respondents have crossed
one year but not completed their second year. Similarly, 13
per cent of respondents have completed more than 2 years
but less than 4 years, 12 per cent of respondents fall
between 4 and 8 years of experience in the field of market-
ing of insurance products and the rest have more than 8
years of experience. Family size evidences that 14 per cent
of respondents are micro family, 48 per cent of respond-
ents belong to three- to four-member family and the rest,
38 per cent of respondents, belong to the family size of
more than five members.
Factors Liable for Causing Stress to
Insurance Marketing Employees
Stress can occur due to a number of reasons in the working
environment, and marketing job is not an exception to this.
Insurance marketing involves more stress than the other
marketing jobs. Hence, this study focus on the five sources
of stress and the respondents are asked to rate their opinion
on the sub-variables provided in the questionnaire. The
respondents opinion on various sub-variables have been
compared with the opinion scores, so as to get the overall
opinion on the importance of the factors related to stress faced
by the life insurance marketing employees. Subsequently, a
5-point scale has been used; the interval for breaking the
range in measuring each variable is calculated as (5 1)/%
= 0.8. The opinion score that falls between 1 and 1.80 has
been considered as least important. The opinion score
that falls between 1.81 and 2.60 has been considered as
low importance. The opinion score that falls between
2.61 and 3.40 has been considered as medium impor-
tance. The opinion score falling between 3.41 and 4.20
has been considered as high importance and above 4.20
has been considered as most important.
Sources of Stress from Superiors Behaviour
Superiors are masters in experience and performance and
have adequate knowledge of team management. If there is
any discrepancy found in their management of teams, it
may lead to poor results in performance and is responsible
for more stress. Table 2 presents a list of sources of stress
for insurance marketing employees due to the behaviour of
their superiors.
Table 2. Stress from Superiors Behaviour
Stress Mean
Standard
Deviation Rank Importance
Over torture 4.28 1.02 1 Most
Unfriendly command 3.97 1.18 4 High
No guidance 3.23 1.42 7 Medium
Partiality 3.21 1.32 8 Medium
No recognition 3.47 0.98 5 High
Autocratic leadership 4.12 1.22 3 High
Excessive pressure 4.21 1.42 2 Most
Poor assistance 3.37 1.01 6 Medium
Source: Primary data.
It is observed from Table 2 that the over torture and
excessive work pressure have been considered as the most
important factors. High importance has been given to
unfriendly command from the superiors, no recognition in
achievement of targets assigned by the superiors and
autocratic style of leadership. No proper guidance on the
prospecting of customers and agents, business close,
appointment of agents and filling up of proposal forms is
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A Study on Gender Differences in Stress 81
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 77-85
responsible for giving medium stress to employees.
Similarly, partiality among the performers and non-
performers, fresh and experienced, is creating stress to a
medium extent, along with the poor assistance of services.
Most importance given to over torture and excessive pressure
indicates that respondents receive most stress in this way.
Stress Due to Personal Grumbles
Personal complaints of employees are countless and tem-
porary in nature. It is the duty of the employer to satisfy the
reasonable monetary and non-monetary requirements of
employees. Usually, the employees engaged in the front-
line of sales activity may expect more benefits from the
company. If the company shows a delay in the provision of
the benefits, or denies to deliver the benefits, it may create
stress among the employees. Table 3 enlists some of these
sources of stress faced by the life insurance marketing
employees.
Table 3. Stress Due to Personal Grumbles
Stress Mean
Standard
Deviation Rank Importance
Low take-home salary 4.43 1.46 1 Most
Inadequate allowances 3.98 1.03 4 High
Inadequate perquisites 3.36 0.89 7 Medium
Low increment 3.87 0.92 5 High
Delay in promotion 4.11 1.36 2 High
Bonus and incentives 4.04 1.22 3 High
Workmen
compensation 2.98 0.86 10 Medium
Medical and welfare
facilities 3.26 1.01 8 Medium
Awards and rewards 3.57 1.04 6 High
No scope for
self-improvement 3.14 1.21 9 Medium
Source: Primary data.
It is clear from Table 3 that low take-home salary is
the most important factor for creating stress through per-
sonal complaints and expectations. The other variables
responsible for high stress are inadequate allowances,
low annual increment, delay in promotion, low productiv-
ity bonus and incentives, and lack or delay in granting of
awards and rewards. The remaining variables like inadequate
perquisites, lack of workmen compensation, provision of
medical and welfare facilities and lack of scope in the
professional development have been considered to be
causing medium stress to the employees.
Sources of Stress Due to Job-specific Factors
Every job has its unique features and restrictions, and
employees have to face the challenges associated with the
job they have undertaken. Employees anticipate several
freedoms and honours from the job and their stress is
directly connected with the substances involved in the job.
Table 4 presents the list of sources of stress for the life
insurance marketing personnel and their opinion as to stress
due to job-specific factors.
Table 4. Stress Due to Job-specific Factors
Stress Mean
Standard
Deviation Rank Importance
Cabin and seating
arrangements 2.89 1.28 8 Medium
Leave facilities 3.67 1.64 6 High
Work-life balance 3.85 1.43 5 High
No autonomy in work 3.42 1.26 7 High
More responsibility 4.23 1.11 3 Most
No employee value 4.01 1.62 4 High
Conflict and dispute
with co-workers 2.34 1.03 9 Low
Frequent travel 4.26 1.34 2 Most
Job security 4.31 1.45 1 Most
Source: Primary data.
It is concluded from Table 4 that the respondents have
considered job security, frequent travel and more responsi-
bility as the most important factors for creating stress.
Following these, no employee value in the company, fac-
ing problems of work-life balance, inadequate facilities
and no autonomy in work are responsible for creating high-
importance stress among the life insurance marketing
employees. Cabin and seating arrangements are responsi-
ble for creating medium stress, and conflict and dispute
with co-workers create low level of stress.
Sources of Stress Due to Work Policy of the
Company
Working atmosphere and policy will differ from one com-
pany to the other; the frequent job rotators from one com-
pany to another may face resistance in terms of the changing
attitudes. It results in some amount of stress among the
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Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 7785
employees, especially marketing employees who find it
difficult to administer the rigid policies laid down by the
companies. The factors responsible for creating stress due
to work policy of the company are presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Stress Due to Work Policy of the Company
Stress Mean
Standard
Deviation Rank Importance
No transparency in
work time 3.34 1.24 7 Medium
Online attendance 4.14 1.46 2 High
No transparency in
CTC 4.16 1.49 1 High
Insurance protection 3.85 1.18 4 High
Lack of induction and
training 3.10 0.97 8 Medium
Limited resource
access 2.28 0.68 9 Low
Frequent transfer/
additional
responsibility 3.99 1.21 3 High
Poor corporate
culture 3.83 1.32 5 High
Crushing work
conditions 3.76 1.34 6 High
Source: Primary data.
It is learned from Table 5 that the respondents consider
variables like no transparency in cost to the company
(CTC), online attendance, frequent transfer or additional
responsibility, lack of insurance protection, poor corporate
culture and crushing work conditions as stress factors of
high importance. No transparency in work time and lack of
induction and training from the company create medium
level of stress among the employees. Finally, limited avail-
ability of resource access creates low level of stress among
the life insurance marketing employees.
Sources of Stress Due to External Forces
All employees are subject to external forces associated with
personal as well as official career. External forces can arise
from the delivery of services from the company and/or can
be linked with the private life of the employees. Sources of
stress due to external forces are listed in Table 6.
It is observed from Table 6 that the respondents consid-
ered family problems, chance to earn money through other
employments, distance between home and workplace,
economic conditions, agents behaviour and expectations
from the company and customer response and behaviour
as creating high stress for the insurance marketing employ-
ees. Physiological problems create medium level of stress
and personal commitments are responsible for low stress.
Testing of Hypothesis
In order to test the importance assigned to various sources
of stress factors affecting employees in the workplace, an
attempt has been made to find out if any relationship exists
between the gender of the employee and sources of stress
factors; t-test has been used to test the hypothesis.
Relationship between Gender and Stress
Due to Superiors Behaviour
Relationship between gender of the employees and stress
from superiors behaviour has been tested by framing
appropriate null hypothesis (H
0
) that there is no significant
relationship between gender and superiors behaviour. As
against this, the alternative hypothesis (H
1
) states that there
is a significant relationship between gender and superiors
behaviour.
It is noted from Table 7 that the entire variables under
stress from superiors behaviour and gender, along with its
t-values, are statistically significant at 5 per cent level.
Hence, the null hypothesis that there is no significant rela-
tionship between gender and superiors behaviour is accepted
for all cases.
Relationship between Gender and Stress
Due to Personal Grumbles
Relationship between gender and stress due to personal
grumbles has been tested with the null hypothesis (H
0
) that
Table 6. Stress Due to External Forces
Stress Mean
Standard
Deviation Rank Importance
Economic conditions 3.62 1.32 4 High
Workplace distance 3.73 1.36 3 High
Chance to earn more
salary 3.95 0.97 2 High
Family problems 4.04 1.29 1 High
Physiological problems 3.34 1.14 7 Medium
Customer response
and behaviour 3.43 1.19 6 High
Agents behaviour and
expectations 3.57 1.21 5 High
Personal commitments 2.58 0.69 8 Low
Source: Primary data.
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Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 77-85
there is no significant relationship between gender and
stress due to personal grumbles.
It is observed from Table 8 that the variables under
stress due to personal grumbles and their corresponding
t-values are statistically significant at 5 per cent level.
Hence, the null hypothesis that there is no significant rela-
tionship between gender and stress due to personal grum-
bles is accepted. Exception to the case is workmen com-
pensation, which is rejected at 5 per cent level of
significance.
Relationship between Gender and Stress
Due to Job-specific Factors
Existence of relationship between these variables is tested.
The null hypothesis (H
0
) states that there is no significant
relationship between gender and stress due to job-specific
factors.
It is perceived from Table 9 that there is no significant
relationship between gender and job-specific factors.
Hence, null hypothesis is accepted at 5 per cent signifi-
cance level, with the exception of work-life balance and
frequent travel. These two cases reveal that there is a sig-
nificant relationship between gender and job-specific
factors.
Relationship between Gender and Stress
Due to Work Policy of the Company
The t-test has been employed with null hypothesis to test
the relationship between gender and stress due to work
policy of the company, and the null hypothesis (H
0
) states
Table 8. t-test Results for Stress Due to Personal Grumbles and Gender
Stress
Male Female
t-test Result Mean
Standard
Deviation Mean
Standard
Deviation
Low take-home salary 4.51 1.32 4.27 1.27 1.438 Accept
Inadequate allowances 3.99 1.24 3.92 1.21 1.179 Accept
Inadequate perquisites 3.13 1.02 3.48 1.17 1.343 Accept
Low increment 3.94 0.97 3.71 1.23 0.689 Accept
Delay in promotion 4.24 1.36 4.05 1.32 0.346 Accept
Bonus and incentives 4.17 1.28 3.96 1.25 1.273 Accept
Workmen compensation 2.92 0.79 3.04 0.92 2.201 Reject
Medical and welfare facilities 3.18 0.85 3.35 1.04 1.384 Accept
Awards and rewards 3.71 1.10 3.38 0.96 1.291 Accept
No scope for self-improvement 3.29 1.13 3.06 1.24 0.739 Accept
Source: Primary data.
Table 7. t-test Results for Superiors Behaviour and Gender
Stress
Male Female
t-test Result Mean
Standard
Deviation Mean
Standard
Deviation
Over torture 4.01 1.12 4.32 1.32 1.243 Accept
Unfriendly command 3.84 1.23 3.98 1.28 0.582 Accept
No guidance 3.12 1.03 3.27 1.14 0.679 Accept
Partiality 3.10 1.18 3.23 1.17 1.157 Accept
No recognition 3.58 1.07 3.01 0.98 1.236 Accept
Autocratic leadership 4.24 1.34 4.04 1.31 1.054 Accept
Excessive pressure 4.19 1.43 4.25 1.36 1.132 Accept
Poor assistance 3.39 1.21 3.33 1.23 1.112 Accept
Source: Primary data.
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84 R. Radhakrishnan and Jins Joy. P.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 7785
that there is no significant relationship between gender and
stress due to work policy of the company.
It is witnessed from Table 10 that all the variables under
stress due to work policy of the company and its corre-
sponding t-test values are significant at 5 per cent level.
This results in the acceptance of null hypothesis except for
the variable of frequent transfer. It seems there exists a dif-
ference of opinion between the male and female
employees.
Relationship between Gender and Stress
Due to External Forces
Relationship between gender and stress due to external
forces has been tested with the null hypothesis (H
0
) that
there is no significant relationship between gender and
stress due to external forces.
It is observed from Table 11 that the relationship between
gender and stress due to external forces has been accepted
at 5 per cent level of significance of t-test.
Conclusion
Results of the study indicate that half of the employees are
male and half are female candidates, and age of the respond-
ents shows that 43 per cent of respondents are in the age
group of 2630 years. In terms of education, 42 per cent of
respondents are PG degree holders and 33 per cent of
respondents are getting a monthly salary of `10,001 to
`15,000, and 71 per cent of respondents are married.
Experience data of employees show that 43 per cent of
respondents have 1 to 2 years of experience in the distribu-
tion of life insurance products. Majority of respondents
have a family size of three to four members.
Table 9. t-test Results for Stress Due to Job-specific Factors and Gender
Stress
Male Female
t-test Result Mean
Standard
Deviation Mean
Standard
Deviation
Cabin and seating arrangements 2.96 0.88 2.71 0.56 0.973 Accept
Leave facilities 3.88 1.13 3.45 1.22 0.772 Accept
Work-life balance 3.14 1.07 4.01 1.41 1.896 Reject
No autonomy in work 3.32 1.23 3.56 1.27 0.885 Accept
More responsibility 4.01 1.37 4.38 1.34 0.767 Accept
No employee value 4.12 1.08 3.81 1.16 1.325 Accept
Conflict and dispute with co-workers 2.11 0.85 2.57 1.01 1.392 Accept
Frequent travel 4.06 1.22 4.41 0.79 1.873 Reject
Job security 4.42 0.94 4.23 1.34 1.345 Accept
Source: Primary data.
Table 10. t-test Results for Stress Due to Work Policy of the Company and Gender
Stress
Male Female
t-test Result Mean
Standard
Deviation Mean
Standard
Deviation
No transparency in work time 3.11 1.03 3.49 1.19 1.294 Accept
Online attendance 4.23 0.93 4.03 0.95 0.895 Accept
No transparency in CTC 4.28 1.34 4.09 1.36 1.223 Accept
Insurance protection 3.68 1.21 3.98 1.01 0.459 Accept
Lack of induction and training 2.89 0.84 3.26 0.78 0.485 Accept
Limited resource access 2.12 0.67 2.37 0.69 1.231 Accept
Frequent transfer 3.83 1.11 4.08 1.03 1.934 Reject
Poor corporate culture 3.74 1.15 3.93 1.07 1.315 Accept
Crushing work conditions 3.55 1.13 3.86 1.21 1.156 Accept
Source: Primary data.
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A Study on Gender Differences in Stress 85
Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation, 8, 1 (2012): 77-85
Several sources of stress affect the workplace behaviour
of the employees; sub-variables like over torture and exces-
sive pressure create most stress from the behaviour of supe-
riors. Apart from these, unfriendly command, no recogni-
tion and autocratic leadership are responsible for creating
high stress among the marketing employees in the insur-
ance companies. Personal complaints in availing benefits
from the company create some extent of stress. Low take-
home salary is the highest source of stress in this category.
Every job has its unique features, and factors such as more
responsibility, frequent travel to long distances and less job
security play more on creating stress for the employees.
These factors are directly associated with the designation
and authority of the job. Work policy of the company can
create stress for the employees. For example, online attend-
ance, no transparency in CTC, insurance protection, fre-
quent transfer, poor corporate culture and crushing work
conditions give high stress to the employees. Similarly,
external forces like stakeholders behaviour, family prob-
lems, distance between home and workplace, prevailing
employment opportunities and economic conditions play
crucial role in creating stress for employees.
Result from the t-test indicates that gender difference in
terms of superior behaviour is significant at 5 per cent
level, which supports the hypothesis that there is no differ-
ence between male and female employees. Likewise, all
the sub-variables in the remaining sources of stress are
accepted with four exceptions. These are workmen com-
pensation in personal complaints; work-life balance and
frequent travel in job-specific factors; and frequent transfer
in work policy of companies that reveal the difference in
perceiving stress between male and female candidates.
This study concludes that stress level between male and
female employees exists equally.
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Table 11. t-test Results for Stress Due to External Forces and Gender
Stress
Male Female
t-test Result Mean
Standard
Deviation Mean
Standard
Deviation
Economic conditions 3.88 1.01 3.42 0.93 1.241 Accept
Workplace distance 3.56 0.84 3.89 0.97 0.895 Accept
Chance to earn more salary 4.05 1.26 3.77 1.10 0.723 Accept
Family problems 3.91 1.13 4.13 1.21 0.645 Accept
Physiological problems 3.11 1.16 3.57 1.22 1.125 Accept
Customer response and behaviour 3.22 1.28 3.78 1.31 1.328 Accept
Agents behaviour and expectations 3.36 0.79 3.72 0.92 0.982 Accept
Personal commitments 2.86 0.94 2.32 0.64 0.588 Accept
Source: Primary data.
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