Public Perception of Jobs Also Influences Views on Parenting

Fuse/Thinkstock(IOWA CITY, Iowa) — Your job may be holding you back from being as good a parent as you can possibly be. Or at least, that’s what some people think.

That’s the finding of University of Iowa researchers, who say that the public’s views of particular workers perceived as aggressive, weak, or impersonal may needlessly add more stress.

Researcher Mark Walker says the study conducted with co-author Mary Noonan shows “the cultural meanings of a person’s occupational and parental identities could impact the psychological well-being of working parents.”

Essentially, the low opinion people have of certain workers make them feel they won’t be good parents either.

Those occupations include attorney, salesperson, laborer, receptionist, police officer or politician.

However, teachers, doctors, registered nurses, principals and professors are viewed more favorably by the public, and therefore are seen as better parents.

One solution, according to Walker, is if employers in certain “stress” fields could potentially provide more targeted mental health resources for those in “at risk” occupations.

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