AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
information with
a stranger or
casual
acquaintance.
female
2.40
1.489
When friends
ask me about
how I am doing,
I choose not to
tell them.
male
2.78
1.158
3.242
.001
female
2.12
1.347
I talk about
myself and my
experiences with
other people.
male
3.43
1.225
2.029
.044
female
3.87
1.380
Close
relationships are
important to me.
male
4.08
1.412
3.212
.002
female
4.81
1.393
I ask other
people to tell me
about their
feelings and
their
experiences.
male
3.69
1.266
2.923
.004
female
4.31
1.300
When I talk
about my
experiences,
people clearly
understand what
I am telling
them.
male
3.68
1.200
3.357
.001
female
4.32
1.079
I exaggerate my
good points and
brag about my
skills and
abilities.
male
3.01
1.034
3.469
.001
female
2.38
1.203
People say that I
talk about
myself in a way
that downplays
my good
qualities.
male
2.97
1.147
2.021
.045
female
3.33
1.001
I listen to others
and offer them
support.
male
3.76
1.339
2.856
.005
female
4.38
1.329
Subsequently, the focus of the research project was on the
analysis of gender differences in the assessment of interpersonal
relationships by employees of the selected helping professions.
The differences found are shown in Table 2.
Statistically significant gender differences were recorded
between the random and the close interpersonal relationships in
several statements of the FIAT-Q methodology. Based on the
data presented in Table 2, we can conclude that women more
than men tend to think that they have often had one or more
close relationships at the workplace in the past. They also state
that these close working relationships are important to them.
Compared to men, they more often ask other people about their
feelings and experiences, listen to others and offer them support.
They are aware of when it is advisable to ask people about their
experience. When they talk about their experiences, others
clearly understand what women say to them.
Women also scored higher in statements regarding the
assessment of the downplaying of their good qualities, as well as
about talking about themselves and their experiences with
others. However, it should be noted that these statements were
assessed by the two groups of respondents on a scale of
disagreement.
Unlike women, men are more often unable to determine when it
would be beneficial to share their experiences with another
person and share their data with strangers and random
acquaintances. More often they exaggerate their good qualities
and brag about their knowledge and abilities. Men, also more
often than women, tend not to answer the question of their
friends about how they feel. It is also important to point out that
men's responses are on a scale of disagreement, with women
disagreeing more with the given statements than men.
3 Discussion and conclusion
Diener et al. (1999) report that people experience relatively more
frequently positive emotions. With an increasing unease in the
work process, individuals are more likely to express negative
emotions as well (Reis, Collins and Berscheid, 2000; Fischer and
Manstead, 2008). The emotional impact on participants in the
work process is had almost by all the events that take place in it
(Weiss, 2002). Stuchlíková (2007) describes the key components
of emotional intelligence which she considers to be necessary in
expressing emotions in relation to the environment. She
emphasizes the understanding of the causes of emotions, the
regulation of emotions, the communication of emotional content
and empathy. Gross (2011) states that emotion regulation is a
process by which people influence what emotions they will have,
how they will use and express them.
Slaměník (2011) claims that the sources of human emotions are
very diverse, and considers interpersonal relationships as one of
the sources. Expression of negative emotions can significantly
affect interpersonal relationships. Negative emotions in the work
process can also be caused by work constraints, lack of
recognition, and lack of social relationships (Oginska-Bulik,
2005).
Rosenzweig (1990, according to Chenery et al., 2008) states that
interpersonal relationships can be manifested in interpersonal
communication, which involves mutual intercourse and
communication, as well as in cooperation, or mutual
collaboration. In order to develop positive interpersonal
relationships, the author states, as a basic prerequisite for
understanding the other person, the tolerance of other opinions
and attitudes. Barsade and Gibson (1998) report that emotions
greatly affect the roles we work on, the efforts we put into the
work, and the way we influence the team.
The degree of effective emotional management in the work
process affects various factors, including gender or work area.
The aim of the research project presented in the paper was to
find out whether there are statistically significant differences in
the level of effective coping with emotions and the assessment of
interpersonal relations in the work process among the employees
of the selected helping professions from the gender perspective.
Sociologists Ross and Mirowsky (2008) report in their study that
women, compared to men, experience more negative and passive
emotions. This may be due to work environments, workloads,
deployment, and a variety of other factors. The addressed
women report that they are aware of their feelings and emotions
when they are just going through them, they can identify the
differences between emotions, and they are able to name the
individual emotions. These findings coincide with Goleman's
(1997) statement which says that women are more capable of
perceiving their own emotions, able to deal with these emotions,
use them for the benefit of something, feel the feelings of other
people, and deal with relationships properly.
Detecting the differences in the assessment of interpersonal
relationships in the work process from the point of view of the
group of respondents was another objective of this research. Litz
and Folker (2002) report that women are more people-oriented,
they create richer social networks, rely more on their contacts
and teamwork. The recorded statistically significant differences
between men and women are consistent with the claim. For
women, close relationships are more important than for men.
More often they talk about their experiences with other people,
and they also say that they listen to other people and offer them
support. On the contrary, men report that they are unable to
determine when it would be beneficial to share their experiences
with another person. Similar findings were acquired by Vasiľová
(2004), who states that men behave colder and harder than
women in interpersonal situations.
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