Psychological, socio-cultural, and lifestyle factors impacting the quality of life of Lebanese women -

Abstract

Quality of life refers to individuals’ perception of their position in life in the context of their culture and value systems and in relation to their goals and concerns. The term multiple roles is used to refer to situations in which work and family roles are occupied simultaneously. Research on this topic produced mixed findings. Some studies argued that the combination of work and family roles is detrimental to women’s quality of life; while others argued that the combination of different roles enhances women’s quality of life despite the stress associated with managing multiple demands. This study investigated the impact of women’s roles on their quality of life in Lebanon, while considering the influence of social support, work-family conflict, and lifestyle factors. This study also tested for the effect of the main predictors on the quality of life of Lebanese women, while partialling out the effect of influential variables. A battery of questionnaires assessing social support, organizationally support, work-family conflict, role overload, role centrality, and lifestyle factors was administered to participants using hard copies and online surveys. A sample of 168 Lebanese women between the ages of 21 and 64 participated in the study. Results showed that perceived social support, body satisfaction, and centrality of the partner role significantly and positively predicted quality of life. Role overload also significantly predicted the outcome, but in a direction opposite to that which was expected. Role overload positively predicted quality of life, while it was expected that higher overload would predict lower quality of life. Finally, perceived social support and family-to-work conflict predicted quality of life when partialling out for the effect of influential factors. Limitations of this study included the broad inclusion criteria and unsuitable scales for the sample. Directions for future research included selecting scales that are more salient to the population to better ass