Gender role conflict, problem-solving appraisal, and the psychological functioning of firefighters

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the meditational relationship between gender role conflict, problem-solving appraisal, and psychological functioning in firefighters. Participants were 95 male firefighters from a municipal fire department in the Midwest. Measures included the Gender Role Conflict Scale (O'Neil, Helms, Gable, David, & Wrightsman, 1986), Problem Solving Inventory (Heppner, 1988; Heppner & Petersen, 1982), and the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (Lambert et al., 2004). Using the methods of Baron and Kenny and colleagues (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Kenny, Kashy, & Bolger, 1998), regression analyses identified gender role conflict as a significant partial mediator between problem-solving appraisal and psychological functioning. The results provide several implications for understanding problem-solving appraisal and gender role conflict as well as for working with firefighters and similar occupations.