Investigating the Relationship Between Maternal Employment Guilt, Perceived Stress, Procrastination and Work Motivation among Working Mothers of Pakistan

Abstract

The present study investigated the impact of maternal employment guilt on job motivation, procrastination, and perceived stress among working mothers. A total of 123 working mothers participated in the study, including those from both nuclear (n = 82) and joint (n = 41) family systems. Standardized instruments were used for data collection, including the Maternal Employment Guilt Scale by Ümran Yüce Selvi and Ozge Kantas (2019), Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS) by Tremblay et al. (2009), the General Procrastination Scale by Lay (1986), and the Perceived Stress Scale by Cohen et al. (1983). Independent sample t-tests, Pearson product-moment correlation, and linear regression analyses were carried out to assess group differences, relationships among variables, and the predictive role of maternal employment guilt on the three outcome variables. Results revealed that mothers from nuclear families scored significantly higher on procrastination, perceived stress, and maternal employment guilt compared to those from joint families. Correlational analysis showed that maternal employment guilt was positively correlated with procrastination and perceived stress but was not significantly correlated with job motivation. Furthermore, maternal employment guilt significantly predicted higher levels of procrastination and perceived stress but did not significantly predict job motivation among working mothers.