Self-efficacy, stress and health at work

D o w n lo ad ed F ro m IP 1 17 .2 45 .3 9. 45 o n d at ed 1 6Ju n -2 01 8 The study investigates the concept of self-efficacy for predicting health, stress and work in India. One thousand men and women, aged between 16-71 years were sampled across India. Since India is a diverse country where cultural and ecological variations affect behaviour the sample was drawn from five states across the country. These were Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu. The aim of the study was to test Bandura's contention that 'self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations' and whether this would also apply in India. It was hypothesized that high efficacy would be associated with health beliefs, stress, and work. Also how levels of efficacy would impact health in men and women. This might indicate whether self-efficacy is a gendered phenomenon predicting health and work in different spheres of life. The analyses reveal that age predicted self-efficacy for men, but that did not lead to notable variation in their tendency to be in paid work as compared to women. The results also suggest that women are undergoing a transition in their health beliefs and involvement in paid work regardless of the region in which they reside. To some extent they are proving to be better than men in this respect, irrespective of the level of reported stress. This indicates that women in India are striving to find a new, positive balance between work and health.