Role Call

The issue isn't whether women work or nd But whether they actively engage in a number of roles and enjoy them all. All if they experience psychological and physical well-being--and possibly even a few extra years of life.

When Cornell University researcher Phylis Moen and Donna Dempster-McClain collected detailed life histories of 313 women (all wives and mothers) in 1956, they found that the roles most likely to benefit came from volunteer positions. The key point, say the investigators, is that the women were involved by choice. In all likelihood, work might fill the same function to-day--at least among women who work by choice in lobs they enjoy.

Women detailed everything from their education to their self-esteem and life-satisfaction level. Follow-up interviews in 1986 revealed:

Participation in activities is a stronger predictor of successful aging than education level or economic status.

Fify-two percent of those who didn't belong to clubs/organizations in 1956 developed major illnesses by 1986, compared with 36% of women who were active members.

Approximately 33% of women who were active in only one or two roles beyond marriage and motherhood in 1956 died b 1986, versus 18% of women who engaged in three or four.

Actively involved women in 1956 showed significantly higher self-esteem 30 years later than their less-active peers. The more roles a woman occupied, the higher her self-esteem.

The explanation is simple, says Moen, director of Cornell's Life Course Institute. The more socially Integrated you are, the bigger your social network and support system. Joining organizations also offers women more access to different types of information.

Outside-the-house employment during the 30 year study period seemed to have little bearing on self-esteem--and a negative effect on women, health in later years. Educated working women claimed less general-life satisfaction in 1886. But women who worked in 1956 were going against cultural expectations, and few options were open to them.

Given the occupational freedom women have today, Moen and Dempster-McClain decided to interview the next generation--the women's daughters. The results are not yet analyzed, Moen sees a trend--daughters of active/volunteering women become active themselves, regardless of long work hours.

Says Moen, "Role involvements give purpose, meaning, and guidance to life."