Stress and Cognitive Functions of Working Women in India

This study assessed the effects of life stress on cognitive functions in working women. In the present scenario role segregated and segmental identity of women has put them in a situation where females have to perform multiple and adapt to diverse kind of psychological environments. They are always under pressure to rearrange their traditional roles of wife, mother and home maker in order to accommodate their non traditional roles as earner. These pressures tend to predispose them to life stresses, sometimes leading to reduced psychological well being. High stress leads to cognitive dysfunctions as more attention is paid to negative aspects of life. Scores of cognitive functions viz. problem solving, focused attention, concentration & recall in low stressed women were significantly higher than these scores in high stress women. Conclusion: Cognitive functions were disrupted in case of high stress women and sharp in case of low stress women