The relationship between career women's friendships, multiple roles, and general well-being: A developmental study

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between career women's friendships, multiple roles, and general well-being across three distinct age periods, 25–34, 35–44, and 45–55. The participants in the study were 319 women (25–34, n = 111; 35–44, n = 116; and 45–55, n = 92) who subscribed to Working Women Magazine and Working Mother Magazine. The majority of the subjects were Caucasian, Catholic or Christian, well educated having earned at least a baccalaureate and in many cases a graduate degree, and had incomes above $50,000. Further, the majority of participants were married or in a partnered relationship, employed full time, and over half reported having at least one child. Subjects were recruited from a pre-established research list of willing participants from the magazine through the use of a mail survey. The survey included a letter of introduction, the Friendship Chart, the General Well-Being Schedule (GWB), and a demographic questionnaire. The Friendship Chart is a two-part measure designed specifically for this study. In Part A, participants are asked to list 10 friends and answer a range of demographic questions and to identify each individual's familial and occupational roles. Part B of the measure involves 5 open-ended questions about the development, maintenance, and termination of the friendship. The GWB is a brief and broad-ranging indicator of subjective feelings of psychological well-being and distress designed for use in community surveys. Although the statistical hypotheses did not prove informative, the findings of the open-ended questions demonstrated that female friendships for adult women are powerful relationships and also supported the need for further study. Additionally, this study focused on friendship of multiple roles and general well being by examining the quantity of women's roles and friends. The responses in the open-ended questions further demonstrated that more in-depth information can be gained by focusing more on quality of experience. ^