[Masculinity, femininity, androgyny and work stress]

It was assumed that good mental health is associated with the traditional bipolar model of masculinity-femininity i.e., gender-schematic men and women. Bem and Lenney questioned this assumption and revealed that androgynous individuals endorse both warm and forceful self-characteristics, so they perform well in situations where either variety of assertiveness is appropriate. Compared with sex-typed individuals, they are more competent, better adjusted psychologically with the better stress resistance. The question appears how androgynous individuals assess the stress at their workplace. Little research has been conducted on the effects of gender role orientations on occupational stress.

A group of 308 participants (123 females and 185 males), employed in the municipal trasnportation enterprise, completed a battery of instruments dealing with gender (The Bem Sex Role Inventory by Kuczyńska) and work stress (The Subjective Assessment of Work Questionnaire by Dudek et al.).

Psychological gender is associated with the experienced work stress. Undifferentiated individuals, androgynous men and masculine women perceived their workplace as the most stressful. Work stress-generated factors were represented by physical conditions and roles performance.

It is expected that the obtained results may be the source of important hints for the stress management in various types of organizations on various levels.