RELATIVE DEPRIVATION, CAREER ISSUES, AND MENTAL-HEALTH AMONG MEN IN MIDLIFE

The present study compared the career-related problems and relative deprivation of men in their late thirties to early forties to those of younger and older men. A sample of 248 professional men from The Netherlands from age 26 to 55 years participated in the study. The level of mental and physical health and relative deprivation was the same in midlife as in the other age groups. However, the subjects became more preoccupied with lessened job opportunities and changing work role identity during midlife, while they still had a rather strong need for career advancement. Particularly during midlife, such preoccupations and relative deprivation appear to be accompanied by health complaints and job dissatisfaction. However, multiple regression analyses with these preoccupations and relative deprivation as independent variables revealed that in all career stages, relative deprivation was the only predictor of mental and physical health. © 1992.