Britney Spears thinks it's her job to look more like a "sex kitten" than she really is.

The 31-year-old star's video for her new single "Work B***h" shows her flaunting her figure in sexy outfits while she whips her dancers and she claims this is a different role to what she plays at home where she is mother to sons eight-year-old Sean and seven-year-old Jayden - who she has with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

"I think it goes with what I do. It's my job to portray more of a sex kitten than what I really am at home with my kids," she said when quizzed on her sex appeal.

The pop star finds her stage persona therapeutic as it nothing like her real life and her performances give her the opportunity to portray a "different character." She explained, "As artists I think people who are really shy - I'm really shy in person - so when I get on stage, it's really good for me to become this different character because it's like therapy for me."

Britney thinks there is a lot of pressure to look good in the music industry and insists stars should surround themselves with "cool people" to make sure they stay "grounded." She added, "I think there is a pressure for girls to have the right nose, the right body and you are your environment so it becomes contagious when you get in that environment. You actually become that yourself, so it's important to keep cool people around you to keep you grounded."