Analytical View of Mediating Job Stress and Work-Life Balance Through Self-Motivation Among Women journalists in Kerala’s digital Age
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14419/cn86a911Keywords:
Female Journalists; Maslow-Herzberg Theory; Maslach Multidimensional Scale; Self-motivation and Work-life BalanceAbstract
The domain of digital journalism is rapidly evolving through new technologies, audience engagement models, and shifting newsroom dynamics. Within this space, the role of women journalists is increasingly significant for demand-focused analytical exploration. Findings also suggest that economic implications for news organizations in emerging markets with unmanaged stress result in reduced productivity, where higher attrition rates among women journalists affect overall organizational performance. Prevailing studies focus mainly on external challenges like gender bias and discrimination, overlooking internal psychological factors such as self-motivation. The benefits of emotional control and intellectual autonomy in stress management are rarely studied, particularly in the view of digital platforms that bring about new pressures, which have a significant impact on self-motivation. To bridge this, the proposed analytical study focuses on 28 women journalists across Kerala, thereby using the Maslach Multidimensional Motivational Scale (MasMoS) to quantitatively assess intrinsic motivation, stress, and personal-professional balance. The research adopts the integrated Hierarchical Maslow-Herzberg model to interpret the interplay between intrinsic drives and extrinsic stressors. Further, hypothesis testing, such as Levene’s test, Brown-Forsythe test, and Welch’s test, is used to validate the mediation role of self-motivation in the digital workspace. Results indicate that self-motivation acts as a stabilizing force, helping female journalists to manage stress and preserve work-life boundaries.
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Received date: May 16, 2025
Accepted date: July 12, 2025
Published date: August 5, 2025