An empirical test of a contemporary model of psychosocial stress was conducted to evaluate expected differences in cognitive and affective functioning for males and females in a professional career sample. Perceived powerlessness and affective hostility were viewed as constituting a cluster of adaptive responses to personal/social conditions linked to a distinct pattern of psychosocial alienation. Fifty-four subjects, 27 male and 27 female attorneys, were given a series of psychological measures designed to assess perceived powerlessness, covert versus overt expression of hostility and fear of success. Path analytic procedures provided empirical support for the predictive utility of the model. Further, findings emphasize the need to consider the specific characteristics of diverse occupational samples which may yield differing relationships as well as differential styles of perceptual and behavioral adaption to their unique settings. (Author)