Depression is much higher amongst female bosses than male bosses,a new US survey finds.Dr Tetyana Pudrovska,the study's first author,explained:"Women with job authority-the ability to hire,fire,and influence pay-have greatly more symptoms of depression than women without this power.But men with job authority have fewer symptoms of depression than men without such power." The study followed 1,500 middle-aged women and 1,300 middle-aged men who all graduated from high schools in Wisconsin.The men and women were surveyed in 1993 and 2004 to look at the connection between how much authority they had at work and symptoms of depression. The results showed that amongst men and women with lower levels of authority at work,women had slightly higher levels of depression.This is normal since overall women suffer from depression slightly more than men.Amongst men and women with higher levels of authority at work,however,it was women who had many more symptoms of depression than men.Men in authority actually had a 10% lower risk of depression,while authority increased the risk of women having depressive symptoms by 9%. Dr Pudrovska continued:"What shocked us is that women with job authority in our study are advantaged in terms of most characteristics that are strong signs of positive mental health.These women have more education,higher incomes,better jobs,and higher levels of job satisfaction than women without job authority.Yet,they have worse mental health than lower-status women." The cause of this _ is not known,but Dr Pudrovska says:"Years of social science research suggests that women in authority positions deal with interpersonal anxiety,negative social interactions,negative stereotypes,prejudice,social isolation ,as well as resistance from colleagues.Women in authority positions are viewed as lacking in the assertiveness and confidence of strong leaders.But when these women display such characteristics,they are judged negatively for being unfeminine .This causes mental stress." Men,on the other hand,do not have to face these kinds of negative stereotypes about their abilities. What conclusion can we draw from the passage?
The higher levels of authority,the fewer women suffer depression. The higher levels of authority,the more women suffer depression. The lower levels of authority,the more men suffer depression. The lower levels of authority,the more women suffer depression.