ACCESS TO CATEGORIES OF EXPERIENCE AND MENTAL-HEALTH IN A SAMPLE OF MANAGERS

This study of 28 managers investigated the importance for mental healt h of Jahoda's (1982) five categories of experience, measured for both work and leisure. Each of the categories of experience of time structu re, social contact, collective purpose, status, and activity correlate d with at least one measure of mental health. Multiple regression anal ysis showed that collective purpose and status, in both work and leisu re, had moderate to large beta coefficients, indicative of their poten tial influence, for a range of measures of mental health, covering pos itive mental health and freedom from negative mental health. Analyses of Warr's (1987) nine ''principal environmental influences'' (PEI) als o supported the importance of collective purpose and status. This show ed that the PEI ''valued social position,'' which includes these two c ategories of experience, remained significantly associated with severa l measures of mental health. Analysis of the PEIs also showed that opp ortunity for use of existing skills in leisure, and variety in leisure , were significantly associated with several measures of mental health . The importance of valued social position and active leisure for the well-being of managers is discussed.