title: Perfectionism, humor, and optimism as moderators of health outcomes and determinants of coping styles of women executives.
abstract: Previous research has indicated that humor, optimism, and perfectionism are ubiquitous human tendencies and traits affecting the performance and coping styles of women in the work place. The purpose of the present series of studies was to provide a more rigorous test of the hypothesis that certain personality attributes buffer the impact of daily hassles on health outcomes among female executives. Three studies were conducted to examine how perfectionism, humor, and optimism moderate the deleterious effects of daily hassles on self-esteem, burnout, and physical health. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that all attributes significantly moderated the relationship between daily hassles and self-esteem maintenance, emotional exhaustion, and physical illness. A fourth study examined the correlations between high levels of perfectionism, humor, and optimism and female executives' use of different coping strategies and orientations. The results provide implications for the early socialization and management training of female executives working in stressful environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, B.C., Canada.
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Fry
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology*; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology